Lean on Me
by reg1124
Summary: Guilt.. depression.. anguish. All emotions felt by a young man who's battle scars go deeper than just physical pain. But with the help of his friends, loved ones and a special somebody, maybe that pain can go away. [NaruSaku]
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: So, been a while. :D**

 **Anyways, this is a bit of a side story I've been working on for a bit while I get an idea for where I want to take my other stories, would love to knows your opinions and support/(constructive)criticism/whatever is always appreciated.**

 **Keep in mind this has no ties to the universe in my other stories. Thanks and I hope you enjoy chapter 1!**

* * *

 **P** **ROLOGUE**

"Why Sasuke…" Naruto muttered under his breath as he carried the body of his best friend through the rain.

" _Sasuke, it's not too late! You can come back to the village with me!" Naruto screamed at his rival who was standing atop the statue of Madara Uchiha_

" _And do what Naruto!?" Sasuke snapped back, swivelling around to meet Naruto's gaze_

 _Naruto looked at what Sasuke had become, gone was the old Sasuke he had grown to call his best friend. His face showed no emotion or hint of regret, his cold stare was intimidating to say the least. He didn't look like the teme he once knew, His body was covered in those… marks. His right eye looked like that of a monster._

" _If I go back, I'll be inferior for the rest of my life. Like I said, it's nothing personal. I'm going with Orochimaru to get stronger, so I can kill my brother. Just leave me alone and go back home." Sasuke said as he turned around and continued walking away from his friend._

" _So that's it, huh..." Naruto shouted, clenching his fists together as Sasuke turned around to eye his friend one last time._

" _You're just going to leave everyone behind? Forget about everything we did together!? What about Team 7!? Did that not mean anything to you!?" Naruto shouted at the man as a red liquid surrounded him, bearing the resemblance of chakra._

 _Sasuke looked shocked at Naruto, "Just what exactly is he!?" Sasuke thought to himself._

" _If that's the case, then I'll bring you home by force! I'll break every bone in your body until you have no choice but to come back!" Naruto shouted as a tail began to form on his backside._

" _Hn." Sasuke said as he signalled Naruto to come at him_

Naruto looked up; he wasn't very far from the village now. He looked down at the body of his friend and closed his eyes trying to keep back tears as he progressed towards the Hidden Leaf Village. "Not far now, teme." Naruto said slowly walking through the rain, his breathing becoming exasperated and husky.

" _Why won't you just give up!?" Sasuke yelled as he kicked a prone Naruto in the stomach, eliciting a bloody cough from the blow._

" _Because you're my friend" Naruto said as he looked up, smiling with a small amount of blood dripping from his mouth._

 _Sasuke got even angrier at Naruto's response, connecting his right shin with the side of Naruto's head._

" _Just stay down." Sasuke said._

 _Suddenly, a pool of red chakra started to emanate from Naruto again as if breathing life into him. The blonde groggily stood back up._

" _How many times do I have to say it, teme…?" Naruto groggily grunted out._

" _I'm bringing you back to the village whether you like it or not." He said as he ran full force and shoulder barged Sasuke, sending him into the rock monument of Madara._

 _Naruto jumped back onto the statue of Hashirama in order to get a better view of where Sasuke is, suddenly a burst of lightning appeared from the smoke as if from almost thin air. As the smoke cleared Naruto saw that Sasuke... wasn't Sasuke anymore. His body was now a pale shade of grey and his eyes were now both nothing but empty black holes with a yellow centre, his markings were replaced by a single mark in the centre of his face and wings in the shape of hands had sprouted from his back._

" _Fine, we'll end this here then! Once and for all!" Sasuke shouted as the lighting in his hand turned black._

 _Naruto quickly summoned a shadow clone and began to form a chakra ball in his hands, "This is it…" Naruto thought as they both looked at each other._

 _As if almost like a gunshot the two both sprang of their separate platforms with tremendous speed, charging at one another in the air._

" _NARUTO!"_

" _SASUKE!"_

Finally, Naruto had approached the gates of the village. Rain drenching both him and Sasuke as Naruto looked down at the ground in shame and exhaustion. The gates of the village opened to reveal Tsunade and Kakashi among other ninja who were standing there looking at him, the blonde Hokage ran out to see to the boy and inspect the now-presumed returned ninja.

"Naruto…" Tsunade said, realizing what had happened as she eyed the body of Sasuke Uchiha

"Mission… failed." Naruto said as he dropped Sasuke's body before passing out himself.

"What should we do m'lady?" Shizune asked.

"Call the village council together, report that Naruto Uzumaki is alive and in a somewhat healthy condition." Tsunade responded.

"And what of Sasuke Uchiha?" Shizune asked

"Prepare funeral arrangements." Tsunade added grimly.

* * *

 **CHAPTER 1**

" _The one time you were able to beat me one on one, what luck..." Sasuke half-chuckled to himself as he looked at the sobbing Naruto._

" _No, you're not dying!" Naruto said as he tried to pick the bleeding out boy up._

" _It's no use, idiot." Sasuke said, looking up at the sky. Rain had begun to fall._

" _By the time you get me back, I'll be dead anyways. Atleast let me die here. It's somewhat poetic." Sasuke said._

 _Naruto continued to wipe the tears that were falling from his face as he sat in silence and watched his friend die._

" _Naruto." Sasuke called out._

 _The blonde looked up at his dying friend who slowly shifted his glance from the sky to look at him._

" _For what it's worth, you will become Hokage one day. I have a good feeling about it." Sasuke said as his glance shifted back to the sky..._

" _I've never liked cloudy days..." Sasuke said as he slowly began drifting off._

 _Naruto quickly scurried over to his friend hand grabbed his hand, hoping it would somehow save him._

" _Hey, Naruto" Sasuke said, still looking up at the sky._

" _Y-Yeah?" Naruto replied in between sobs._

" _Carry me back to the village, yeah? I want to be buried in my home..." Sasuke asked. Naruto squeezed his hand in place for a nod._

" _And… stop being a dobe." Sasuke said, smiling at his friend before the life seemingly drained from his eyes._

" _No, NO, NO, NO!"_

"NO!" Naruto shouted as he jumped up from his hospital bed, almost scaring the nurse to death.

Naruto looked around the room, it was Konoha hospital. His heart rate monitor was going off the charts. He quickly began to take the straps off as he heard the door open.

"Well, look who's awake."

Naruto looked up to see none other than Tsunade Senju, the 5th Hokage.

"Granny…" Naruto said grimly as he tried to hold back tears.

Tsunade was shocked at how vulnerable the happy-go-lucky ninja seemed right now, she walked over and held the boy in an embrace tight enough to harm any mere man, Naruto didn't mind the tightness, in fact he welcomed and relished the contact as he openly began sobbing into her jacket.

"It's not your fault." She whispered as she gently stroked his blonde locks until he calmed down.

"So, how long have I been out?" Naruto asked, sniffling and wiping the last of his tears away.

"A few weeks, you suffered severe chakra depletion. Everyone's been coming in and out to visit you." Tsunade said pointing the array of gifts and flowers left on the floor and tables.

"How's Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Fine, coping like everyone else I guess." Tsunade said, gripping Naruto's hand to reassure him.

"Is it alright if I leave? I feel much better." Naruto lied.

Tsunade would normally say no, but she knew how hard this must be for him and how much this must be eating away at him. She checked his chart to make sure he wasn't in any immediate danger and sighed.

"No physical activity for a few days, got it?" Tsunade said, giving him a false threat. Expecting Naruto to pull some kind of comical joke.

"Hai." He glumly said, hopping out the bed and moving towards the bathroom to change his clothes.

"Send word to ANBU, Naruto is by no means allowed to leave the village unless accompanied by a jounin with an official document from me." Tsunade said to the ninja guarding the room.

* * *

Naruto walked along the streets of Konoha, trying to avoid the shuns from the civilian families calling him a "monster" and a "demon" for killing him teammate, he knew he would get used to these new insults, just like he did the last ones, and the ones before those.

He finally couldn't take it anymore and needed to get out of the streets for a while; he noticed the Yamanaka flower shop coming up and walked as fast as he could to enter it.

"We're on break" He heard an obnoxious voice shout as he entered the store.

"Sorry, I'll come back later." Naruto said, leaving to turn out the door.

"Naruto?" the voice called out.

Naruto turned around to see Ino Yamanaka, heir of the Yamanaka family and apparently part-time store worker at the Yamanaka flower shop, he closed his eyes and awaited the beating that was about to come his way for taking away her life-long crush but it never came. She extended her arms around him and pulled him in for a hug.

"I know how hard that must've been." She said gently, fighting off her own tears.

"Just know that none of us blame you, don't listen to what the people outside say. You're a hero to us." She said, smiling at him gently as she released the hug.

"Thanks... I... I'm just having a hard time coping with it all." Naruto admitted.

Ino nodded in understand, she imagined herself in the same position as him but with Sakura replacing Sasuke... how must he be feeling right now...

"I understand, do you want some tea? It'll calm your nerves." Ino asked.

"No thank you Ino, I really should be going." Naruto said.

"You sure? It's no trouble." Ino persisted, looking Naruto in the eyes.

"I... I've got someone I need to see." Naruto said.

Ino instantly understood what Naruto meant and smiled, "I think she'll be very happy to see you." Ino said, holding the door open for her blonde friend.

"I hope so." Naruto replied before exiting the Yamanaka flower shop and continuing on his path of villager-torment towards his goal.

Finally he reached it, the training ground for Team 7. He looked over and saw her; she sat on the edge of a river poking a stick into the water and watching the ripples that broadcasted out from the disturbed water. He sighed to clear his head and began walking over slowly, thinking of what to say.

"I had a feeling I'd find you here." He said a slight tinge of sadness in his voice.

Recognizing the voice she instantly turned around and smiled at the boy, "N-Naruto!" She happily exclaimed, pulling him in for a hug.

Once the two had exchanged pleasantries they sat back down by the river bed and Sakura continued playing with the stick, pressing it gently against the water.

"So how did you know I'd be here?" She asked, trying to gather her thoughts.

"It's the first place I'd come as well." Naruto said, looking at the ripples Sakura was creating.

A silence filled the air as neither knew what to say, the air didn't feel hostile but both of them didn't know what to say about what had transpired over the past month.

"So I" They both said at once, looking at each other with slight smiles on their face from the awkward encounter.

"You should go first." Sakura said to which Naruto replied with, "No, I can wait. It's alright." He replied.

Desperate not to get locked into a never-ending loop Sakura decided to concede to the almighty-gentleman Naruto Uzumaki and spoke what she originally intended to say.

"How have you been dealing with it?" She asked, Naruto froze up for a moment when she said it which didn't go unnoticed by the pink-haired Haruno.

"It's my fault." He said, looking down at the water.

Sakura was generally surprised by his response, she had thought the exact same thing when Naruto was holed up in Hospital and Sasuke was being buried. She gently moved over and leaned her head onto his shoulder. Naruto was foreign to this kind of contact from her but decided he didn't care right now and raised his arm so that he could wrap it around her and pull her close.

"It's not your fault." She whispered, holding back tears.

"Saku—"Naruto tried to say before he got cut off.

"No, if I hadn't made you make that stupid promise everything would've been fine!" She shouted, blaming herself.

" _Naruto, please bring Sasuke back to me… to us!" She yelled at the blonde._

" _I promise Sakura!" Naruto responded as he ran out the gate._

"You never break your promises right? That's your nindo…" She said, sobbing into her hands.

Naruto couldn't bare to see her like this and pulled her in for a tight hug, letting her openly weep into his jacket which she always thought was ugly; he closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down as well. Last thing he needed to do was break down in front of Sakura.

"Feel better now?" He asked gently as he stroked her back while she finished off sobbing.

"I got your jacket all wet." She giggled to herself.

"I can clean it." He said casually.

"So what was your question?" She asked, looking up at the blonde.

"The same. I wanted to know how you were handling all of this." He said, looking back down at the water.

"The first time I saw you in the hospital I felt so guilty. You were wrapped head to toe in bandages from chakra burns and your arm was so badly broken Tsunade-sama had to spend all night fixing it." She said, informing Naruto.

"After a while I just stopped feeling anything in general..." She said, casting her eyes down to her knees.

"I.. I tried to end it all you know? I.. I had a kunai ready and I was going to do it." Sakura said, ashamed of herself.

Naruto's breath hitched upon hearing this, he squeezed her extra tight to reassure himself she was still here. After a minute or two Sakura continued talking. "Ino caught me about to do it and saved my life. She yelled at me for hours, I remember her saying something like "You coward, Naruto risked his life for you and you would go ahead and do that." Sakura said, doing her best Ino impersonation while still remaining downtrodden.

"You're not a coward Sakura-chan" Naruto said.

"No, she was right. I had no right to do it, not after all you went through." She said, looking up at Naruto.

"It hasn't been easy, I came by every day. Hoping one day you'd wake up again." She admitted.

"I'm awake now." He reassured her.

"Yeah, you are." She said with a genuine smile on her face, she looked at the sun setting above them and sighed.

"I should be getting home, it's getting late. Walk me home?" Sakura asked.

"Of course, Sakura-chan." Naruto said, releasing his arm from her side and helping Sakura to her feet.

The two walked down the quiet street, Naruto intentionally chose this path so that the heckling villagers wouldn't insult Sakura as well.

"Do you miss him?" Sakura asked, already sort of knowing the answer.

Naruto didn't answer, he just nodded.

"What about you?" He asked in return.

"I think so, I try to see him for all the good he did." Sakura said.

After around 15 minutes of the question-answer walk to Sakura's house they finally arrived at the residence.

Naruto was about to say a goodbye before Sakura cut him off by pressing her fingers to his lips. Sakura grinned at the annoyance on his face. "You should come in for dinner, all your food will be rotten by now." Sakura suggested.

Naruto sighed, she had a point. The fridge probably hadn't been stocked for a good month or two now. "I can always go to Ichiraku's Sakura-chan, I shouldn't bother you." Naruto said, turning to leave.

Sakura grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around, "No way you're leaving to eat that unhealthy ramen mister, inside now." She said gently but bossily, stomping her foot down and putting on fake scowl.

"Alright Sakura-chan, I'll eat dinner with you." Naruto said, smiling at how she was acting. It made him feel a lot better about everything.

"Good." She said as he walked past her inside. "Besides, I want you here…" she whispered to herself as she followed him in.


	2. Chapter 2

Sakura smiled inwardly as she closed the door behind her, catching up to Naruto who was hanging his jacket on the hanger. She looked through the door and saw that her parents were just sitting down to eat dinner, she walked into the kitchen and called her parents' names.

"Sakura, come sit down. You're just in time for dinner." Her dad, Kizashi called out.

"Thanks Dad.. Is it okay if I brought a guest to dinner?" She asked, looking at her parents who responded with confused looks.

"Who'd you bring, dear?" Sakura's Mother, Mebuki asked.

As if responding to a signal, Naruto stepped out from behind the wall and raised his hand to attempt a wave before his actions were cut off by a hand on his wrist.

"What are you doing in my home, demon?" Kizashi said with venom in his voice.

"I-I" Naruto stumbled on his words.

"Dad, leave him alone!" Sakura called out, running towards her father.

"Stay out of it Sakura." Kizashi said eyeing his daughter, sending her a clear message that he would not ask twice.

Kizashi squeezed the genin's wrist tighter, almost to the point of breaking his joint all together. He stared down at the boy with hatred in his eyes, "You listen and you listen good, stay the hell away from my Daughter. Got it!?" He shouted.

Sakura and Mebuki watched the confrontation between the two males, as Naruto winced in pain and Kizashi smiled and relish at the harm he was able to cause the bastard jinchuriki.

Naruto looked up and nodded at the man, it made sense that they'd hate him after all. The Haruno's were a civilian family, all of the civilians are looking like Naruto as a murderer right now. It didn't help that he was the container for the nine-tails, the beast that killed Kizashi's parents.

Kizashi smirked as he dragged the boy from the kitchen to the front door and threw him outside with force.

"If I see you near my family again murderer, I will not be so kind." Kizashi said, slamming the door and locking it shut.

Naruto looked down at his wrist and winced when he touched it, it had begun to swell up a bit. He looked back at the house once more before sighing and making his way back down the quiet and lonely road to his apartment. He tried not to let any tears fall, he was not sad. He realized why Sakura's dad did what he had done, he was the one that killed the Uchiha prodigy after all. The civilians Naruto was passing scowled at him with such bitter expressions on their face that made him not want to even look at them, so that's what he did. He put his hands in his pockets and looked down at the ground, ignoring the world around him.

Once he arrived he proceeded up the staircase to his apartment before being greeted by his cheerfully smiling landlord.

"Hiya Naruto-kun." The landlord said to the blonde who was passing up the stairs.

"Oh Mika-chan, hi." Naruto said, trying his best to put on a fake smile for the landlord.

She was a slender woman, probably entering her mid-thirties although she looked like she had just started entering her late twenties. She stood around the average height for a woman her age Naruto would presume; her brown hair that was usually let down was tied into a ponytail.

Mika looked down and saw the severe swelling and bruising on Naruto's wrist and gasped she walked briskly over and examined the injury herself, earning a wince from her tenant.

"How did you do this, Naruto-kun?" Mika asked, looking back up at the blonde.

Naruto froze up for a second as he thought to himself, _"I can't get Sakura's dad in trouble…"._

"Oh, I hurt it training. It's nothing Mika-chan, promise." Naruto lied with a fake smile on his face.

Mika sighed at the blonde's obvious lie but wasn't going to poke any further into something private, she instead led the blonde into her own apartment via his good hand and sat him down on the couch before rushing off to grab her medical supplies.

Naruto looked around her apartment; it was much cleaner than his was. She had photos of her and her husband on the walls and a photo of a younger version of himself playing together with her. He smiled as he remembered those times growing up before he had to get a place of his own, luckily the landlords allowed him to use their second guest room as his own apartment since no other living areas in Konoha would willingly accommodate him.

"Where is Juro-sama anyways Mika-chan?" Naruto asked the woman who had just re-entered the room.

"He's out on a mission, he should be back soon I hope." She said with a gentle smile as she began bandaging Naruto's arm.

"You shouldn't be doing this Mika-chan. I don't deserve it." Naruto said, looking down at his wrist.

Mika felt a pang of sadness shoot through her as she saw the emotional pain the young blonde was in. She ruffled his hair and smiled.

"You're my special person, Naruto-kun. Of course you deserve it." She said as she continued to bandage his wrist.

"Special person?" Naruto asked, looking up at Mika.

"Of course. A Special person is somebody that you care about, someone that you can count and depend on, somebody that makes you stronger and a better person. Do you have anyone like that Naruto-kun?" Mika asked, looking at the boy.

"Well… you and Juro-sama are really special to me. And Iruka-sensei, Teuchi-jiji and Ayame-chan as well!" He smiled.

Mika smiled as the boy started to perk up as he remembered the people that cared about him, she looked down and continued to bandage the boys arm.

"Mika-chan…" Naruto called out, grabbing her attention.

"There's another special person I have, it's a girl." Naruto said with embarrassment present on his face.

"Ooooh, Naruto-kun has a girlfriend now?" Mika-chan grinned, pinching an annoyed Naruto's cheek playfully.

"Not like that Mika-chan!" Naruto yelled, hiding an embarrassed blush. "She's very important to me though." He said, looking back at his landlord.

"May I ask who?" She questioned, cutting off the bandage as she placed a pin in to hold the bandage in place.

"A girl my age, her name is Sakura Haruno. She's really pretty and funny. She has a crazy temper and gets mad a lot but she cares about a lot of people and trains really hard to keep them safe. She sometimes eats ramen with me when we visit other villages for missions but not often cause she said it will damage her figure and sometimes she makes me these breakfast meals in the mornings and so-" He continued to ramble on.

Mika smiled at the boy, he could be surprisingly cute when he wasn't being a blonde nutcase.

"Then if she's your special person, you should keep her safe." Mika said, poking his nose.

Naruto looked up to his landlord with an ear to ear grin and nodded, "You bet." He said, giving his classic thumbs up.

"Did you want some soup to take home with you Naruto-kun?" Mika asked, "I made extra for Juro-kun but it seems that he's going to miss out on it." She giggled.

"That would be perfect, thank you Mika-chan." Naruto said as he pressed his hand onto his groaning stomach. "Just make sure you don't tell Juro-sama, he will kill me if he finds out I'm stealing his food." Naruto fake pleaded.

"Only if you promise not to be sad anymore." Mika said, handing him a bowl with a gentle look on her face.

Naruto put the bowl down on the table for a moment and hugged the woman, Mika was shocked at first but eased into the hug and smiled, she missed these moments. They were few and far inbetween since he had graduated the academy.

"I'll try. But sometimes it gets very hard not to be. It feels like the whole world is against me." He said, trying hard to contain his tears.

"I know Naruto-kun, I know..." Mika said soothingly as she gently rubbed his back.

"Will it ever get better?" He asked, breaking the hug and looking up at her.

"People don't change easy… But if you try hard enough, even the worst of people can change into the best of people." Mika said, giving him a small kiss on the forehead.

"Thank you Mika-chan, really." Naruto said as he picked up his bowl and headed for the door.

"Naruto!" She called out as he was exiting.

"Hai?" Naruto responded, poking his head back in.

"Come visit more often. We miss seeing your goofy face." Mika said, copying Naruto's trademark thumbs up.

"You bet." He said with a huge grin before closing the door.

Meanwhile, at the Haruno residence tensions were at an all time high as Kizashi sat there looking at his Daughter who was doing nothing but playing with her food.

"Sakura, eat your god damn food already!" Kizashi shouted.

Sakura ignored the visibly angry man and continued to pick at her food, Mebuki looked at her with a look of sympathy while Kizashi looked like he was ready to explode, he stood up and walked over to the girl before taking the fork out of her hands.

"You listen to me Sakura, that boy is nothing but trouble. He—"

"He wanted to have dinner, that's all! He did nothing bad all he did was wave at you!" She shouted at him, finally reaching her boiling point.

"You don't know what we know." He responded.

"If knowing what you know turns me into a monster like you I'd rather be ignorant for the rest of my life." She said with venom in her voice before storming off towards her room.

Kizashi looked at his Daughter who was walking up the stairs in a fit of rage before turning back to his wife who was also about to walk past him.

"Mebuki-chan?" He called out.

"He's just a boy, Kizashi-kun." Was all she said in reply as she put her hand on his shoulder and then walked past him.

Kizashi picked up the fork he threw out of his daughter hand and placed it back on the table before leaning on the table and heavily sighing.

Meanwhile, Sakura was sobbing openly into her pillow. Cursing her father under her breath.

She quieted down when she heard her door slowly creak open behind her, she looked up to see her mother with a gentle expression on her face.

"Do you want to talk?" She said, sitting down next to her.

"N-not r-really." She quietly said between sobs.

"You care about that boy a lot, don't you?" Mebuki asked, gently rubbing her Daughters back.

She thought about the question for a long time, sure she cared about Naruto a lot. He meant so much to her, but this was the first time she even really thought about how much she really cared about the blonde boy. Just exactly what _was_ Naruto to her? A close friend? A best friend? Or something.. more. She looked up at her Mother, her eyes puffy and red from the crying she had just done.

"Naruto means a lot to me, yes." She said, moving herself so she could rest her head on her mother's lap.

"I was the same way with your father." Mebuki said, stroking Sakura's pink hair gently in an attempt to calm her.

"I couldn't make up my mind whether I loved him or not." Mebuki said, smiling at how Sakura visibly froze.

"I know the answer, just by how you look at him. By how you act around him. But do you?" Mebuki asked.

"I-I don't think I do, not yet anyways." Sakura answered as she felt her mother stand up.

"Boys forget a lot of things don't they?" Mebuki said.

Sakura looked up, confused at the question. She saw her mother holding Naruto's jacket in her left hand.

She continued to stare at her mother as she opened her bedroom window..

"It's not really that hot in here, mother." Sakura replied, still confused at what her mother was doing.

"Hm, it sure would be weird if you weren't here when your father comes to say goodnight. Although I believe he thinks that he should just leave you by yourself for tonight.." She said, trying to give hints to Sakura.

Sakura smiled as she got the hint, she ran up to her mother and hugged her tightly before taking the jacket her mother handing her.

"Be back by midnight." Sakura's mother said as she left the room.

Naruto sat at his dinner table by himself as he ate the soup and looked at the bandages around his wrist, _"Mika-chan sure did a good job at this. Must be from all those years treating Juro-sama's injuries."_ He thought to himself as he finished the last remaining amount of soup in the bowl before leaving to do the dishes and inspect what was his current food situation was.

Naruto almost died of sadness when he opened the door of his fridge, all of his milk had gone bad, his orange juice as well. The power was probably turned off from his apartment while he was in the hospital so the landlords could save money. He really didn't blame them, it made sense. He smiled as he saw that his instant ramen seemed to be in decent condition and was going to put some on for later before he heard a knock at his door, he closed the fridge door and made his way over to the door as the knocking grew more rapid and loud.

" _Who the hell is here at this time of night…"_ He thought grumpily.

Naruto opened the door and was shocked to see Sakura standing outside the door, smiling awkwardly at him.

"Umm… Sakura-chan?" Naruto said, obviously confused.

"H-Hi Naruto" Sakura said nervously twiddling her thumbs together.

"Do you want to come in?" Naruto asked, still unsure of what she was doing here.

"That'd be great, thank you." She smiled, moving inside and sitting on his couch.

His room is kind of what she expected it to be, not super messy but certainly not clean. She noticed Naruto move over and sit with her, Sakura looked at Naruto's bandaged wrist and felt a spike of guilt drive right through her. However, she finally got the nerve to speak up.

"Here, you left this at my house." She said, handing the boy his jacket.

Naruto smiled at the gesture and felt a little stupid for forgetting about his jacket, "Thank you so much Sakura-chan, I'm sorry for being a burden and making you come all this way to give it back to me." Naruto said as he put the jacket back on over his shirt.

The room went quiet for a minute while they both thought of what to say to each other, Naruto finally took a gulp and began to speak up.

"Listen Sakura-chan, if you don't want to hang around me anymore I understand. You shouldn't go against what your father says." Naruto sadly uttered.

"I don't care what my father says." Sakura replied, shocking Naruto quite a bit.

"He doesn't know you like I do. I know you're not a murderer. You're an idiot." She said giggling to herself, she looked over at Naruto and saw his face looked a bit downtrodden. Maybe it was a bit too soon to start treating him like that, _"Why am I even treating him like that to begin with?"_ she asked herself.

"You're a kind, gentle, caring idiot. You always put others before yourself and never ask for anything in return. I'm lucky to have you as a friend." She said, smiling as she saw Naruto's attitude do a complete 180.

"Sakura-chan." Naruto said, breaking the silence yet again.

"Naruto?" She answered back.

"Did you love Sasuke?" He said quietly, just loud enough for Sakura to hear him.

"I-I thought I did." She responded, looking down at her feet.

"What do you mean?" Naruto questioned.

"I thought it was love, I mean… I felt like I cared deeply about him… but.." She said, closing her eyes as tears started to fall.

Naruto mentally hit himself for making her answer such a question, it must be incredibly hard on her. Naruto moved over to her and hugged her tight, Sakura relished the warmth that his body seemed to always have.

"Was Sasuke your special person?" Naruto asked.

"Special person? What do you mean?" Sakura asked while she wiped away the remaining tears she had left adorning her face.

"Well, Mika-chan said that a special person is somebody that you care about, you know. Somebody that you can rely and depends on, somebody that makes you happy!" He said with a smile.

Sakura thought about it for a minute, she looked up at the boy hugging her and easing her pain. _"Sasuke never did anything like this…"_ She thought to herself as Naruto finally broke their hug.

"It's ok, you don't have to answer if you don't want to." Naruto said.

"I don't think he was my special person either." Sakura said. "Because I think you're my special person, Naruto." She said, looking at him with a small red tinge of blush evident on her face.

Naruto's eyes went wide at Sakura's remark. He gulped before trying to speak, "But I—He – I don't…" He tried to utter out something that would resemble a sentence but he was at loss for words, his attempts made Sakura giggle and helper her feel much less awkward.

"Don't get the wrong idea though, Naruto!" She warned, poking her finger at him as some kind of warning.

"Y-Yes ma'm." He responded, scared of inciting the wrath of Sakura Haruno upon him.

"Now, since you weren't able to stay for dinner thanks to my.. dad.." She said, pausing a minute to think of what transpired at dinner once more. "I'll make it up to you by taking you out for lunch tomorrow, okay?" Sakura said with a smile on her face.

"You don't have to take me out for anything Sakura-chan, just being around you is the best gift ever!" Naruto replied with an ear to ear grin.

Sakura blushed at his unintentional compliment, she smiled at how sweet he could be sometimes when he wasn't even thinking.

"Idiot…" She muttered, "Just for that you're paying for lunch." Sakura finished, making Naruto regret his actions instantly as he looked at his near-empty wallet.

She giggled at the worried expression on his face before breaking the silence once more, "I should probably be getting back now, Dad doesn't know I'm gone and Mom said to be back before midnight." Sakura said.

"No problem, Sakura-chan." Naruto said, helping Sakura to her feet as he followed her to the door.

Sakura turned around and looked at the boy before her and smiled, "Oh! I almost forgot to give you something!" She said, feigning her nervousness.

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

Suddenly Sakura leaned forward and planted a small kiss on the blonde genin's cheek, almost making him pass out right then and there. Naruto felt like things couldn't get any better for him right now.

"Thank you for everything Naruto, not just tonight but every other night and every other day." She said, trying to hide the blush forming on her cheeks.

"No- No problem Sakura-chan" He said, still looking at her in wonder.

"See you tomorrow for lunch, Naruto-kun." She said, giggling at the added suffix as she walked off.

Naruto was wrong, things did get better.


	3. Chapter 3

"Naruto-kun, slow down." Sakura groaned, trying to add the suffix in order to persuade him but it didn't work as Naruto continued briskly walking with a smile on his face.

"I can't Sakura-chan, this is the best day of my life! We're finally going on a date!" Naruto shouted happily before he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head.

Sakura looked at Naruto with an angry expression on her face, "I've told you 10 times already Naruto, this isn't a date. We're just going to lunch!" She said, a blush passing across her features.

Naruto felt a little deflated after Sakura told him this but smiled as he looked back up at her, "You look pretty today, Sakura-chan." Naruto said.

Sakura froze up at his comment and tried to hide her blush, why was she being like this? He told her she was pretty thousands of times before, why was this time any different? She looked down at the blonde boy and smiled at him before helping him to his feet, "Thank you, Naruto-kun." She said, giving him a small smile as they continued to walk.

After a minute of walking they Naruto finally revealed to her the magical spot where they would be having lunch together, he pointed to the Ichiraku Ramen hut and smiled giddily as they approached it. Sakura stopped walking and looked at Naruto with an annoyed expression. Naruto, noticing Sakura was not walking beside him turned around and saw the expression that crossed her face and responded with a confused look.

"What's wrong, Sakura-chan?" He asked.

She walked over to him at a much faster pace than they had previously walked before, the annoyed expression still on her face. She reached him and poked him in the chest with her pointer finger.

"What's the big idea, Naruto!" She questioned angrily.

"Huh?" He responded, still confused.

"Out of all the placed in Konoha you choose to take me to a Ramen hut?" Sakura said.

"S-Saku-" Naruto tried to say before he was interrupted.

"No Naruto, just forget it. I'll see you later." Sakura said, turning around to walk off.

"Wait, Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted.

Sakura turned around to see the blonde boy walking towards her, he approached her and sighed as he held his hands in his pockets.

"I'm sorry if this wasn't what you expected Sakura-chan." Naruto said.

"Naruto it—" Sakura said before Naruto interrupted her.

"Please Sakura-chan, just let me explain ok?" Naruto asked.

Sakura nodded, agreeing to listen to Naruto's explanation.

"Well, I don't really have any money to spare Sakura-chan. I haven't gotten a mission from Tsunade-baa-chan in forever and I've spent whatever I had left buying food since everything was expired in my apartment. So I asked Teuchi-jiji if I could eat here for free and pay him later and he was nice enough to let me." Naruto explained, "Sorry if this wasn't what you were expecting Sakura-chan, I'll tell Teuchi-jiji that we aren't coming." Naruto said as he turned around to walk back to the stand before he felt a hand reach out to grab his own.

"I-I'm sorry, Naruto." Sakura said, a guilty expression panged across her face, "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. Let's go have lunch." She smiled at him.

Naruto looked at her with a shocked expression but quickly smiled and nodded as they both proceeded towards the Ichiraku ramen hut.

"Um… Sakura-chan, you're still holding my hand." Naruto said awkwardly.

"I know." She said, squeezing his hand gently with a smile on her face as she looked towards the ramen hut.

Naruto gulped and blushed but tried to act calm as they entered under the towels into the ramen hut.

"Naruto!" Teuchi smiled, he then looked to the left as he examined the pinkette next to the blonde ninja, "Is this your girlfriend?" He asked, making the two blush bright red.

Teuchi laughed as they both talked over each other trying to explain the situation before Ayame appeared from the door leading to the back of the hut.

"C'mon Dad, leave them alone." Ayame said, feeling sorry for the two.

"You always ruin my fun Ayame-chan." He grumbled before making his way through the door Ayame appeared from.

"So, what's your name miss?" Ayame asked with a smile.

"Sakura Haruno." Sakura replied, extending her hand out.

Ayame nodded as she shook the girls hand, "Nice to meet you Sakura, what will you be having?" Ayame asked.

"Um, I'm not the biggest fan of ramen." She said sheepily, earning a shocked gasp from Teuchi before Ayame glared at him to be quiet.

"That's okay. We have vegetable ramen if you'd like that. It's my personal favourite." She said, trying to help the girl who obviously had never been here before.

"That would be perfect." Sakura said a happy smile adorning on her face.

"Do I even need to ask what you want?" She said with a smile towards the blonde boy who was hungrily awaiting his meal.

"You know my favourite Ayame-chan!" He said with a smile, "Miso ramen with extra pork!" He shouted happily.

Naruto and Sakura conversed happily about things until their ramen arrived, Sakura was shocked at how quickly Naruto had eaten his first bowl of ramen and was even more shocked at how quickly he ordered and consumed his second bowl. After four bowls Naruto had reached his maximum capacity and finally looked to be tuckered out, Sakura looked down at her half-finished bowl and grinned sheepishly.

"I guess I can't handle as much as you." She said.

"It's no problem Sakura-chan. Take your time." He replied.

Sakura smiled as the sincereness of the boy, he told her several stories about his eating competitions with Iruka-sensei to make her laugh as she finished of the rest of her ramen.

"And this one time, Me and Sasu—" Naruto stopped mid-sentence and looked down as if he made the biggest mistake in the world, catching Sakura off guard.

She looked at the sad expression on his face, it made her feel so bad seeing his usual happy demeanour fade. She put her hand on his shoulder, making him look up at her. When their eyes met she flashed him a smile, hoping to atleast make him feel happy somewhat.

"Sakura-chan?" Naurto called out.

"Hm?" She responded, looking at the blonde.

"Can we go see him?" He asked, his blue eyes locked with her green orbs.

Sakura's mind instantly clicked on what Naruto had meant, she nodded.

"We'll be going now Ayame-chan." Naruto said, the sadness still etched on his face.

"Okay.. Naruto-kun.." Ayame replied, a worried expression on her face.

Before Sakura exited Ayame grabbed her on the shoulder, making her turn around.

"He really cares about you Sakura, I don't know how you feel about him but you should spend some time with him. After all that's happened he really needs a friend to be around right now." Ayame said, smiling gently at the girl.

"Thank you Ayame." She said returning with a smile of her own before running of to catch up to Naruto.

The two proceeded promptly to the cemetery, Sakura kept Naruto's hand in hers as a way to cheer him up but it didn't seem to be working he seemed to still be saddened as he was caught in deep thought.

"We're here." She said as they stopped in front of the headstone that read 'Sasuke Uchiha', he was buried amongst his fellow clansmen that died in the massacre.

Naruto looked at the grave as memories of their fight came flooding back to him, he looked upon the grave as tears threatened to fall, he knelt down and placed his hand on the gravestone.

Naruto opened his mouth as if to speak but couldn't put the words together, he looked back at Sakura and then back to the gravestone of his best friend. He expected more flowers and well-wished at the gravestone of the Uchiha prodigy, all the flowers left there had died and whittled "We both miss you. I'm sorry, teme. Next time I come back I'll bring you some flowers so we can decorate this place up some more or something, okay?" He said, rubbing his hand across the gravestone. "Sakura-chan." He said, looking towards the girl.

"Thank you for coming with me." He said, walking over to Sakura.

"It's fine Naruto-kun, really." She said, smiling gently at the blonde.

The two decided it was best to start heading back, feeling exhausted from their big meal and the walk back and fourth through the Konoha woods they decided to rest on a hill and watch the sun set over the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Sakura looked over at Naruto and saw that the deeply saddened look on his face was still present, she examined him with worry.

"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" She asked out of the blue.

"Fine Sakura-chan, why?" He responded, looking at the pink-haired ninja.

"You're not fine, you've been out of it since lunch." She said with worry in her voice.

"It's just…" He stopped as he looked away from her, that same look present in his features. Naruto felt a hand press itself to his shoulder, he turned out to see Sakura smiling at him gently.

"If you don't want to tell me it's okay, but you can trust me Naruto-kun. I promise." She said soothingly.

Naruto looked at the girl in front of him and nodded as he turned full around and looked deep into her green orbs that adorned her face."I-I keep having these nightmares, I keep thinking about my battle with Sasuke. Right before he.. y'know… We both charged at each other with our best attacks and I was unable to control the power of the rasengan in the state I was in and it hit him…. It hit him and killed him… Instead when I looked up it's not him that I've killed it's you… It's you. I have your blood on my hands and all I can do is sit there and watch you die… Then I wake up." He said, his body shaking in fear as tears fell from his blue eyes.

Sakura immediately pulled the blonde boy into an embrace and let him cry openly, exposing a side to her that she never felt would ever be seen from the happy go-lucky idiot that used to play pranks on academy teachers.

"Naruto-kun…" She whispered almost inaudibly.

"They're just dreams, okay?" She said, trying to calm the blonde boy down.

"How touching." A voice called out from the forest, making the two ninja jump up.

The two looked almost in shock at the man standing before them was none other than Orochimaru, his snake-like eyes fixated on the two young genin before him.

"What are you doing here, Orochimaru!" Naruto called out, quickly wiping the tears from his face

"Just enjoying the sunset, like you two." He smiled darkly.

"You have no business here!" Sakura yelled at the snake sanin.

"You're right, I should be going now." He said as he stared a hole through the pink haired girl in front of him.

"Oh wait, I almost forgot. A little parting gift." He said as he stopped moving.

Almost as fast as lightning, Orochimaru turned around and shot a snake out of his mouth at breakneck speed.

Naruto eyes opened wide as he realized that he was not the target of Orochimaru's attack, He quickly dashed in-front of Sakura and grunted as he felt something pass through his shoulder.

Sakura's eyes closed as she felt death was inevitable until she heard a grunt from the young blonde boy, her eyes opened in horror as she saw the snake was completely shot through Naruto's shoulder but just avoided her due to Naruto grabbing hold of it.

"Well, Ta-ta." Orochimaru cackled as both he and the snake in Naruto's shoulder vanished out of existence.

"Naruto!" She shouted as the caught the boy who fell over in pain.

"Love… you... Sa…kura-chan…" Naruto said as he passed out from the pain.

"HELP…. HELP…. SOMEBODY HELP ME!" She screamed out in horror as she clutched the bleeding blonde boy in her arms.

* * *

 **AN: Cliffhangers suck, right?** **Expect 1-2 chapter(s) a week from here on out.**


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto groaned as he stirred awake, the familiar smell of disinfectants and the look of bland white walls instantly severed as a reminder to just exactly where he was, he tried to move his shoulder but his efforts seemed to be for nought, he assumed that Tsunade had his shoulder restrained so that he wouldn't move around and re-injure it.

He looked down the bed and saw Sakura sleeping softly, she was sitting in a chair and her head was resting on the side of his bed. He smiled and moved some loose hairs that fell to her forehead away with his uninjured arm.

" _She's so beautiful"_ He thought to himself as he watched her steady breathing make her body rise and fall.

Naruto looked over and saw the heavy bandages that were placed around his shoulder and thought about the events that took place, the confrontation with Orochimaru on the hill was something he didn't expect to happen, he knew that he was in for a long interrogation session courtesy of Tsunade. He reached over and touched his shoulder with his good arm and immediately recoiled and winced in pain.

"Damn that hurts…" Naruto groaned.

As Naruto was muttering various curses about his shoulder, Sakura stirred awake from her restful sleep, uttering a small yawn as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

Sakura went wide-eyed as she saw the blonde moving around and examining his shoulder, "Naruto-kun!" She shouted happily and she got up and encased the blonde boy in a tight hug, making sure she avoided touching his shoulder.

"Hey Sakura-chan" Naruto said groggily.

"I… I was so worried about you… You were bleeding so much and I.." She said in between sobs.

Naruto rubbed her back with his good arm, "I'm fine now, Sakura-chan." He said, giving her a tired smile.

"You saved me." She said, breaking the hug and locking her gaze with his. "You risked your life to save me." She finished, squeezing his hand gently.

"S'nothing… Sakura-chan" He muttered out tiredly as he drifted back off to sleep.

Sakura smiled gently at the sleeping boy and released her grip of his hand and placed it back into his bed. She leaned over and planted a gentle kiss to the boys forehead, "It's not 'nothing' you big idiot." She said gently through a smile.

"Sakura, please stop kissing my patients." Tsunade said as she walked in the room with a cheeky grin on her face.

"Tsunade-sama! I-I wasn't… I didn't mean…" Sakura waved her hands franticly trying to explain herself.

Tsunade chuckled before putting her finger in front of her lips, signalling the girl to be quiet. "You showed great bravery carrying him back, I'm proud of you Sakura." She said, ruffling the girls hair.

Tsunade looked down at the sad expression on the girls face and sighed, "You don't take praise well, do you?" Tsunade sad.

"Sorry Tsunade-sama, It's not that I don't appreciate the praise.." Sakura paused. "Naruto wouldn't be in this state if I was strong enough to protect myself." She said as she began sobbing.

Tsunade smiled, the girl reminded her of a young version on herself, she wrapped the girl in a gentle hug and let her let out all of her self-frustrations.

"We start training tomorrow." Tsunade said in a casual voice.

"What do you mean?" Sakura replied confused as she wiped the tears away from her face.

"You wanted to get stronger right?" Tsunade asked, Sakura nodded in reply to the blonde Hokage's question.

"Then you're now my apprentice, come by my office in the morning and we'll begin training." She said, letting go of the girl and walking out of the room.

Sakura smiled excitedly as she watching Tsunade exit the room, she turned back to the sleeping Naruto and held his hand gently.

"Just you watch Naruto-kun, I'm going to get just as strong as you! Then I'll be the one to save you/" She said confidently.

A week had passed since Naruto had first awoken, people had been in and out to see him almost every hour of every day. Mika-chan brought him books to read, Juro-sama came and entertained him with stories of his missions, Ayame-chan and Teuchi came by to give him some ramen to eat, and all of his genin friends turned up once or twice to wish him a speedy recovery but the one person that never showed up during the week was Sakura.

Naruto was sitting on his bed waiting for Tsunade to come back and give him his medical clearance to leave the hospital, he had healed much faster than an average patient due to the powers of the nine-tails jinchuriki speeding up his healing process.

"Why hasn't Sakura-chan come to visit me Shizune-chan?" Naruto asked.

"How's your shoulder feeling Naruto-kun?" Shizune said, trying to change the subject.

"You didn't answer me, Shizune-chan." Naruto said with a worried tone in his voice, looking at the Hokage's assistant.

"I don't know for sure, Naruto-kun." She paused before continuing, "I remember she told me that she feels guilty when she was by your side while you were recuperating" Shizune said.

"Guilty?" Naruto asked, confused.

"She feels as if she is a burden to you, you always save her when she needs you too. She believes it to be her fault that you ended up here twice in such a short space of time. She carried you all the way into the village on her own, everyone cheered her and thanked for slaying 'the beast'. All she could do was keep carrying you and listen to everyone thank her for killing you, I can't image how she would have felt." Shizune said as she finished folding Naruto's blankets.

"Naruto, you're cleared to leave." Tsunade said as she walked in with his chart, "Take it easy and we'll be able to put you back on active mission duty when Juro and Kakashi return in a few weeks." She said, placing the sheet on the table.

"Is everything alright Naruto?" Tsunade asked, looking at the troubled expression on Naruto's face.

"Yeah baa-chan, Have you seen Sakura-chan at all today?" Naruto asked.

"I think she's been training over at the grounds." Tsunade responded with a small grin, knowing that the girl was training hard.

Naruto nodded and smiled to the Hokage in thanks before slipping his shirt and jacket on.

"Oh, and Naruto…" Tsunade called out to him.

"The pervert's coming back to the village, he wants to speak to you." Tsunade said before leaving.

"Pervy sage is coming back?" Naruto said with a confused expression on his face before he left to find Sakura.

There she was, at the training ground just like he had been told. Naruto almost peed his pants when he saw the huge craters that lied around the training grounds, how had Sakura gotten this strong in such a short period of time, he saw Sakura in the distance splitting logs in half with her bare hands and decided to approach cautiously.

"Sakura-chan?" He called out, making her turn her gaze to him.

"Naruto-kun, you're out of hospital!" She said.

"D-Did you do all of this?" He asked nervously, pointing to the craters behind him.

"Um… yeah, I guess." She replied sheepishly with a smile.

"That's amazing Sakura-chan!" He said amazed. "You're so cool!" He exclaimed.

Sakura blushed at the boys comment but smiled and thanked him. "Do you want to sit down, Naruto-kun?" She asked as she moved to sit down on the lakeside.

"Sure." Naruto replied, sitting down next to her.

"You're not a burden, Sakura-chan" He said, catching Sakura off guard.

"How did you…—"

"Shizune-chan told me." Naruto responded.

"You're wrong Naruto, I am a burden on you." She said, looking down at the water. "You ended up in the hospital the first time because of some stupid promise you made to me to bring Sasuke back home, then you ended up their a second time cause you saved me because I was too weak to save myself." She said, bringing her knees to her chest.

"You're wrong, y'know." Naruto said, breaking the silence. "I did that myself because I'm a big idiot." He laughed. "If anything I'm a burden on you, just look at how strong you're getting while I'm sitting hospital." He said.

Sakura smiled at how nice the boy was being, "I never thanked you for saving me back on the hill." She said.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan it's noth—"

"Don't say it's nothing." Sakura interriupted. "You risked your life to save me Naruto-kun, why?" She asked, staring at the blonde boy.

There was a long silence between the two genin, neither of them spoke as Sakura awaited an answer from Naruto.

"Didn't you hear what I said before I passed out?" Naruto asked.

" _Love… you… Sa…kura-chan"_

Sakura froze up as she remembered what he said to her that day, she looked at the blue eyed boy who was smiling gently at her and replied, "You didn't mean it, you were dying." She tried to reason.

"Of course I meant it, I meant every word." He said with a smile on his face

"But after all I've put you through.." Sakura said, looking into the boys eyes.

"None of that matters." He gently said to the girl in front of him.

"Of course it matters, I treated you like dirt Naruto-kun. I almost got you killed by making you go after Sasuke." She said, openly sobbing into her hands.

Naruto moved over and hugged her tightly as she finally let the dam of emotion that had been building for weeks overflow onto his good shoulder. They sat like that for a long time, basking in the feeling of warmth and security that they both brought each other.

"I already told you, none of that is your fault. I did all of that because I wanted to. I wanted to bring Sasuke back so you could be happy again Sakura-chan. I hate seeing you sad, you're my special person." He said, running his fingers through my hair.

Sakura thought about Naruto's words for a long time as he sat their comforting her, she didn't care about being strong and putting a wall behind her emotions right now, she sat there in his arms as he tried everything he could to make her happy.

" _Naruto…"_ She thought as she pressed herself into the orange fabric of his jacket _"He would sacrifice his own life and happiness for me… after everything that I've done to him over the years…"_ She thought as she felt him rub her back gently to soothe her.

" _I was the same way with your father, I couldn't make up my mind whether I loved him or not"_ Sakura thought about her mother's words to her.

" _A special person is somebody you care about, somebody that you can rely and depend on, somebody that makes you happy!"_ Sakura smiled remembering Naruto's explanation.

" _Love… you… Sa…kura-chan"_

Sakura looked up at Naruto as her green orbs met Naruto's soothing blue ones, without warning Sakura moved her head forward and collided her lips passionately with his, knocking him onto his back while still pressing her lips to his. Naruto didn't mind the pain in his shoulder, right now he didn't care about anything but her. The kiss lasted only for a small moment but to the two young genin it felt like an eternity of bliss.

"Naruto-kun." Sakura said gently as she ran her hand over his whiskered cheek.

"Y-Yes Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"I love you." She said smiling as she pressed her lips to his once more.


	5. Chapter 5 (End of Arc 1)

It was a peaceful night in the Hidden Leaf Village; the stars were gently shining and illuminating the dark path the villagers walked home on. Yes it truly was a peaceful night, except in Naruto Uzumaki's apartment.

"Naruto-kun, stop it!" Sakura exclaimed through her fit of laughter as the blonde boy had two chopsticks in his nose and his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

"I'm the Ramen zombieeee…" Naruto said as he paced towards her slowly.

"Oh no, not the Ramen zombie!" Sakura said over dramatically with a smile on her face.

Naru- I mean, the Ramen Zombie approached his intended target and attacked with his best move, "Tickle Jutsu!" the Ramen zombie said as he tickled Sakura furiously.

"N-Naruto-kun!" She squealed as the boy tickled her making her involuntarily move her body around.

Naruto continued to tickle his girlfriend until he felt satisfied at the results and saw Sakura holding her sides in laughter, he removed the chopsticks from his nose and placed them into the bin before sitting down next to the girl.

"I'll get you back for that you know." She said as she snuggled up to his shoulder, already pondering over her evil plans.

"I'm sure you will, but it was worth it." He smiled, wrapping his arm around her.

They sat their for a while, just enjoying the calming presence of one another's company before a harsh knock could be heard on Naruto's wooden door.

"Jeez, who could want you at this time of night." Sakura asked as Naruto withdrew his arm and stood up.

"No idea…" Naruto said with confusion laced in his voice as he made his way over to the door.

He turned the knob of the door and pulled it open as he yawned.

"Took your time, kid." Jiraya said as he leaned on the outside doorframe.

"Pervy-sage?" Naruto said with a shocked expression present on his face.

"Who else could it be?" He said proudly before realizing what Naruto had called him, "I told you to stop calling me that!" He warned.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." He said with a smile, making the old man smile back.

Sakura approached the doorway and stood next to Naruto, making the old man gasp in shock.

"N-Naruto, you're not old enough to be doing those kinds of things with women!" Jiraya exclaimed.

"I wasn't doing anything to her you pervert!" Naruto exclaimed back, making Sakura blush as she remembered the tickling attack caused by the Ramen zombie.

Jiraya coughed as he regained his composure, "Right. I almost forgot, I'm here on serious business Naruto. Could we speak inside?" He asked.

"Sure, come in." Naruto said, inviting the sanin in.

Jiraya sighed as he sat down on one of Naruto's sofas he looked at Naruto and Sakura who were sat on the other sofa and smiled.

"You two remind me of the fourth and his wife." He said, making the two blush.

"You knew the fourth Hokage?" Sakura asked.

"Of course, I trained him." He said, leaving Sakura with a shocked expression on her face.

"Anyways, Naruto. I've been away for so long because I've been researching information." Jiraya said.

"For your next book?" Naruto chimed in, annoyed.

"NO YOU IDIOT!" Jiraya exclaimed before sighing in annoyance and regaining his composure.

"I've been researching into the Akatsuki." Jiraya said, a serious expression adorned his features as he looked at the two genin.

"Akatsuki?" The two genin both replied with surprised looks.

"Yes, I believe they are getting ready to mobilize and go after you Naruto." Jiraya said, keeping a serious expression on his face as he looked at the boy.

"I see…" Naruto said as he looked down on the floor.

"Why Naruto!?" Sakura asked with a worried look on her face.

"Sakura…" Jiraya was going to talk before Naruto interrupted him.

"No, I'll tell her in private when you leave Pervy-sage." Naruto looked at the man with a pleading look in his eyes.

"Understood." Jiraya agreed.

"Reguardless, I've been sent to take you on a journey. In order to train you and keep the Akatsuki off your tail." Jiraya said.

"A journey, for how long?" Naruto asked.

"Three years." Jiraya replied, making the two genin give him angry looks in return.

"You can't just take him away for three years!" Sakura said, holding back tears.

"Yeah, she's right! I want to stay here with Sakura-chan!" Naruto said before Jiraya bursted out in anger.

"YOU DON'T GET A CHOICE!" He shouted, slamming his hand on the table before sighing and relaxing himself.

"I'm sorry Naruto. I know this is sudden. But you know why the Akatsuki is after you. The longer you stay here unprepared to fight them the more danger you bring to everyone in the village, including her." Jiraya paused as he gestured to Sakura. "You know I wouldn't force this upon you If there was any other way, your life means everything to ninja-world. You should pack and get some rest tonight, we'll be leaving in the morning. Good night, both of you." Jiraya said as he stood up to leave.

Naruto and Sakura sat there in silence as they both looked at the floor of Naruto's apartment.

"Why…" Sakura said, squeezing the fabric of her dress.

"I'm important, you heard what Perv—" Naruto tried to say before he felt Sakura slap side of his face, making him look down at the girl who's tears were pooling up at her eyes.

"Stop lying to me, please…" She said as tears began to fall.

Naruto wiped away her tears before sighing. "I don't want to do this… You'll hate me." Naruto reasoned.

"I'll never, ever hate you Naruto-kun. I just want to hear the truth." Sakura said, squeezing his hand.

Naruto sighed as he took of his jacket and shirt, making Sakura blush before she saw a seal placed on Naruto's abdominal region.

Naruto looked at Sakura, he locked his hands with hers as he began recounting what he had been told happened on that fateful night.

"Do you remember when the Nine-Tailed fox attacked?" Naruto asked.

Sakura nodded in response as Naruto gave one final sigh before starting his explanation for the pink-haired kunoichi

"The fourth Hokage stopped the Nine-Tails by sealing it away using the eighth signed sealing jutsu and sacrificing his life to execute the seal, but what they didn't tell us in the academy was that the fourth Hokage needed a vessel in order to store the large amount of chakra that the Nine-Tails possessed. The fourth Hokage sealed the Nine-Tails in a newborn baby, I was that newborn baby." Naruto said as he looked Sakura in the eyes who kept her eyes locked on him.

"So yeah, that's why all the adults ignored and hated me. They still kind of do but not as much now. I guess that's also why your parents don't like me. I'm the container for the beast that killed all their friends." Naruto said as he let go of Sakura's hand and stood up to walk away.

"I understand if you don't want to speak to me again Sakura. I'm used to it by now." He said, turning around and giving her a fake smile as he walked into his room. Leaving a shocked Sakura on the sofa, contemplating what the blonde had just told her.

Almost 15 minutes had passed, Naruto sat there rubbing the seal on him stomach as he wiped the tears out of his eyes, "I hate you." He muttered under his breath, he looked up as he saw the door creak open..

"You left your jacket on the couch," Sakura said gently.

Naruto gave a small smile, remembering what Sakura was referencing.

"Thanks Sakura-chan." Naruto stood up and grabbed the jacket and then attempted to close the door before he was blocked by Sakura's arm.

"Naruto-kun, how do you do it?" Sakura asked

"What do you mean, Sakura-chan?" Naruto replied.

"You went through so much as a child. You got ignored, beaten up and shunned by everyone. Yet you're still… you." She said, looking up at the boy.

"Because I found people like Mika-chan, Juro-sama, Iruka-sensei, Pervy-sage and… Team 7." He said looking Sakura in her green orbs.

Sakura smiled at the boy and and slowly snaked her arms around him as she pressed her head into his chest.

"Some dumb fox isn't going to stop me from loving you. I hate the fox, sure. But I love the boy way more" Sakura said gently, looking up as she saw Naruto holding back tears with a smile on his face.

Naruto leaned down and pressed his lips to hers as they passionately kissed each other. Naruto smiled through the kiss, feeling the years of pain being washed away by the pink-haired girl in front of him.

"I'm going to miss this." Naruto said as their foreheads pressed against one another.

"Me too." She said with a small smile.

* * *

"Hurry up, Naruto!" Jiraya said as Naruto was saying goodbye to everyone in order.

"Be a good boy out there, okay? And make sure to write home all the time! And remember to always bathe! And stay aw—"

"Mika-chan, leave the boy alone." Juro said, ruffling Naruto's hair.

"What she means is do your best, kid." Juro said with a ear to ear grin.

"You got it Juro-sama. I'll be stronger than you when I'm back!" Naruto exclaimed.

"We'll see about that." Juro laughed as Naruto encased both him and Mika in a tight hug.

"We're going to miss you Naruto-kun." Mika said, holding back her tears.

"I'll miss you guys more." He said, wiping a tear from his eye as he waved goodbye to them both and walked over to Iruka.

"So, you're going to actually study on this trip I've heard?" Iruka said, faking shock.

"Well, maybe a little." Naruto laughed.

"You've grown into an amazing person Naruto, and I know you'll come back as a splendid Shinobi. You owe me a ramen dinner when you're back." Iruka said with a small smile.

"Count on it sensei!" Naruto said, giving Iruka a small hug before walking over to his classmates who were all waving at him excitedly

"Why do you get to go train with a Sanin!" Kiba complained before Ino punched him in the shoulder.

"What he meant to say was we all believe in you Naruto." Ino said, bluntly correcting the genin who was rubbing his shoulder in pain.

"Yes, Naruto-san! Train hard!" Lee said, shaking Naruto's hand.

"Good luck Naruto!" They all said in unison.

"Thanks guys!" Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head as a grin formed on his face.

Naruto waved at the group before he walked over to Tsunade and Shizune who stood there with smiles on their faces.

"I'm gonna miss having you around to annoy me, brat." Tsunade said, holding back tears.

Without speaking Naruto stepped forward and embraced the Hokage and a tight hug and she let a small amount of tears fall.

"Don't overwork yourself baa-chan." He said gently as he smiled at her.

"You too, kid." She said returning his smile.

"Do your best Naruto-kun." Shizune said as Ton-Ton oinked in agreement.

"Thank you Shizune-chan, take care of yourself." He said, hugging the Hokage's assistant.

"You too, Naruto-kun." She whispered as she watched the blonde walk over to Sakura who was standing on her own in the middle of his path towards the gate.

"Is it selfish that I don't want you to go?" Sakura asked, looking at the Blonde who's bag was slung over his left shoulder.

"Nah, I don't want to go either." He said as his blue eyes met her green orbs.

Sakura lunged forward and collided her lips with his, making their classmates and Jiraya catcall in response earning small giggles both her and Naruto.

"Make sure you write me once a week. You promised." Sakura said, gripping his hand in hers.

"Yes Ma'm." He said, giving her a mock salute.

"And… take care of yourself, I want you back here in three years in one piece. Okay?" She said, placing the other backpack strap on his shoulder.

"My turn to make a request." Naruto said as Sakura looked at him with a confused expression.

"Don't mope around while I'm not here. Train hard, have fun and grow up into an even more beautiful woman." He smiled.

Sakura kissed the boy on the cheek once more and nodded in agreement, "See you in three years?" Sakura asked.

"Three years it is." Naruto said, giving her an ear to ear grin.

"Hurry it up kid, we've gotta make it to the hotel by nightfall!" Jiraya called out.

"I'll m-" Naruto tried to say something before he was caught off guard by one final kiss from Sakura.

"Go. I'll wait for you." Sakura said, reflecting his ear to ear smile back at him.

Naruto nodded with a smile before running off to join Jiraya.

"Ready to go?" Jiraya asked.

"Let's do it." Naruto said to his master as they proceeded out the gate.

The two proceeded out the main Leaf Village gates with thunderous cheers of support and goodbye waves from their peers, as the two faded off into the distance one thing was clearly visible. The trademark thumbs up from a certain blonde genin.

* * *

 **See you guys next week!**


	6. Naruto's Letter Home (Part 1)

**First of all I just want to thank you all for the support in the last chapter. Secondly I'd just like to say that this isn't the official start of the second arc, that's coming later next week. This is just a short little two-part bonus for you guys n' gals since you've been nothing but supportive of me since the beginning of this story. I decided to do this since it was always a pet peeve of mine that the things Naruto and Jiraya did on their journey was only very loosely explained. Anyways thank you guys and enjoy Part 1 of this little bonus filler, Part 2 will be out tomorrow once I finish writing it.**

* * *

The afternoon sun was setting over the Hidden Leaf Village, a dirt covered and exhausted Sakura Haruno walked the path to her house alone, missing the company of her boyfriend. She hadn't seen his goofy smile in one and a half years now; she smiled inwardly remembering that today was the mail delivery day in the village. Sakura was worried sick last week as Naruto didn't write her the entire week, she remembered rushing to Tsunade's office demanding a search party to be sent before Tsunade told her not to worry as she showed Sakura the letter from a small village, it said that Naruto Uzumaki and Jiraya had been forcefully removed from the village after Jiraya was caught peeping on women in the hot spring, making Sakura sigh in annoyance but smile as she knew her boyfriend was ok. Still it was hard not to miss him on days like this, she wished he would come back sooner but knew that she still had a long wait left ahead of her. Sakura gave a big smile as she approached the mailbox outside of her parents house. She saw the letter from 'Uaruto Nzumaki ' in the mail, she giggled at his stupid undercover name before taking the letter inside and quickly rushing to her bedroom in anticipation of reading the letter. She laid down on her bed and quickly unsealed the letter, pulling it out.

* * *

 _Dear Sakura-chan,_

 _Sorry for not writing you last week, Pervy-sage ran into some trouble at the Hot Springs while doing his 'research' and we were told to leave the village immediately cause he was caught 'researching' the village leaders wife. We found a small camp of miners not too far outside of the village and decided to camp with them for the night. One of the miners told me tales about his life back home and how he wants to one day open a ramen restaurant, I told him that if he does achieve his dream of opening the restaurant that I'll be first in line!_

 _After we spent the night with the miners we kept moving north towards the mountains, Pervy-sage says that there is a village built into the mountain side that we can rest at once we reach it. Until then he's still been teaching me how to hone my taijutsu, he says I fight recklessly and that it will lead to my downfall (I think he's wrong). Anyways, my training is going really well. Pervy-sage says that I'm getting way better at chakra control and that soon I'll be able to attempt the rasengan without needing the help of a shadow clone, isn't that cool!?_

 _I miss you so much Sakura-chan, I kiss your photo every night before I go to bed. Is that weird? Probably. Well I don't have an eraser, so I hope it's sweet and not weird! I'm getting off track, sorry. I do that a lot lately when I think about you. How's your training going anyways? I remember you telling me that Kakashi-sensei decided to train you as well as Tsunade baa-chan. You must be getting really strong Sakura-chan, I'm so excited to finally come back in one and a half years and see how amazingly beautiful and cool you are! And… I'm excited to come back and hug you and kiss you and make you feel like the most important girl in the world, because you are too me._

 _How are Mika-chan and Juro-sama doing? Did your dinner with them go well? I hope they weren't too awkward and rude. I hope everyone else is doing ok too, they must all be getting really strong as well. I can't wait to see how everyone's grown up, do you know that I'm almost 5'5 now? I guess I'll actually be way taller than you when I come back haha!_

 _Pervy-sage is telling me to hurry up, there's so much more I want to tell you but I guess we don't have enough time. I miss you loads Sakura-chan! I love you so so so so sooooo much. The name of the mountain village is Kurigai Town, you should send your letter there! I love you Sakura-chan, I'll write you again next week! Train hard and stay beautiful._

 _Naruto_

* * *

Sakura smiled and attempted to close the letter before feeling something strung on to the back of paper, she turned it over to reveal a small bracelet with the words, 'You're beautiful, brave and the love of my life' engraved with the letter N on the left side of the bracelet and an S on the right side. She examined the bracelet a bit longer and smiled as she held back tears of joy. She looked at the text below the bracelet and giggled as it read, 'I'm sorry I missed your birthday as well, it's a little late but I hope you like it'.

"Naruto-kun..." She whispered as she slipped the bracelet on her wrist, giving it a small but tender kiss, letting her lips meet the silver.

 **Part 2 will be up tomorrow!**


	7. Naruto's Letter Home (Part 2)

**Well, this concludes this little two-part special, I'll see you guys later in the week for the beginning of Arc 2!**

* * *

"Come on Naruto, we should get going," Jiraya said, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Hold on Pervy-sage." Naruto said, sorting through the village letter pile in hopes for Sakura's letter.

"She probably forgot, or couldn't remember where to send it to. Don't worry kid," Jiraya reasoned.

"Sakura-chan wouldn't forget something like that, she's super smart!" Naruto retorted.

" _There it is!"_ Naruto exclaimed in his thought as he pulled the letter from the pile.

Jiraya sighed at the blonde's change in demeanour from worried to happy, "Can we get going now?" Jiraya asked.

"Sure, lead the way Pervy-sage!" Naruto said with a grin.

"Naruto, it's been three years. Could you stop calling me that?" Jiraya asked desperately.

"Nope, you'll always be my perverted sensei!" Naruto happily chimed, making the girls passing by nervous of the old man.

"I hate you sometimes." Jiraya groaned.

Naruto laughed as they proceeded out of the villages main gate. His eyes widened as he remembered the letter in his right hand, Naruto giddily unsealed the letter as he began to read its contents.

* * *

 _Dear Naruto-kun_

 _Not long till your back now, right? It should be any day now. I can't wait for you to see everything I've learned from Kakashi-sensei and Tsunade-sama. They both sent their regards and well wishes on your journey back home. Can you believe it's been three years since we've seen each other? I'm so nervous and excited about seeing you again. I can't wait to show you all the things that have changed in the village. The village builders finally finished construction on Tsunade-sama's head for the Hokage monument; It looks really life-like, they did an amazing job._

 _I had dinner with Mika-sama last night, she seemed lonely since Juro-sama was out of the village on a mission and you weren't back yet. She showed me some of your old baby photos, you looked so cute and adorable. It made me realize how much you must've changed over these last three years, I hope you're still the same old goofy Naruto-kun I fell in love with._

 _I sat down and talked about our relationship with my parents earlier in the week too, I told my father I knew about what happened to you as a baby and that it disgusted me that they treated you that way. It took some convincing but my father slowly came around to the idea. Mom was pretty easy to convince, she just wants me to be happy. Maybe we should go see them as a couple when you're back in the village?_

 _You've probably been worried sick since I told you I injured my arm in the last letter but don't worry, Tsunade-sama said I'll be good to go back to active mission duty by Thursday. I've been spending the last week working with Ino in the flower shop for a bit extra money, she's super annoying and bossy but she's really sweet and helpful sometimes too. It's still weird that she's dating Shikamaru. He comes in every once in a while to see her but he always says that flower shops are a drag, that guy really never changes._

 _I guess this is the last letter I'll ever send you… Thank you for keeping your promise Naruto, these letters really did help me. You helped me push myself harder and further than I thought possible and it's because of your support that I've become a stronger kunoichi. Get back soon, words can't describe how much I miss you. I can't wait to see how much my cute little boyfriend has grown, I still remember the sight of you walking out of that gate. You were a brave little boy ready to take on the world, I can't wait to see the man I love walk back through that gate and into my life once more. It's been a long three years but I know it'll all be worth it in the end. Hurry back Naruto-kun, I'll wait for you._

 _Sakura_

* * *

"You know, I've never seen someone so infatuated with a woman before since the Fourth Hokage." Jiraya said, looking at the blonde who had genuinely happy grin on his face as he closed the letter.

Naruto giggled a bit at the old toad hermit's comment before placing the letter in his side pocket so he could re-read it on his journey back the village.

"Pervy-sage?" Naruto said, calling out to the man.

"Hm?" Jiraya responded.

"I never got the chance to say this before, but thanks." Naruto said, smiling at the sanin.

"For what?" Jiraya responded with a confused look.

"I don't know…" Naruto paused, placing his hands in his pockets. "Everything I guess, you never did have to train me or look after me. You did it out of the goodness of your heart, that means a lot to me… Jiraya-sensei." Naruto finished as the two looked at each other with small smiles.

"So, I guess it's time we head home after three years." Jiraya said, placing his arms behind his head as he followed up with a yawn.

"Yeah… I guess it is." Naruto said as he looked at the path ahead of him with a grin on his face.

"NARUTO UZUMAKI IS COMING BACK TO THE HIDDEN LEAF VILLAGE!" Naruto exclaimed as he erupted into a full sprint.

"NARUTO, WAIT UP!" Jiraya called out as he tried to catch up to the speeding blonde teen.

… _._

" _Hurry back Naruto-kun, I'll wait for you."_


	8. Chapter 6

Spring had once again found its way to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, the bushes and trees that had wilted and lost their leaves during the winter had begun to bloom and grow once more as new leaves and flowers danced across their surface to the tune of the soft breeze. Two men approached the Leaf Village at a slow pace through the dense forests surrounding the village; one looked to be taking in the sights and sounds much more than the other who just looked tired from their journey.

"Could it really be them?" The gatekeeper ninja replied, alerting his friends.

"Yes, it's them. Go alert Lady Hokage at once." The ninja with the binoculars ordered as the gatekeeper nin jumped away.

" _So, they've finally returned." The ninja thought to himself as he looked at them once more through the binoculars._

* * *

Ino Yamanaka, heiress to the Yamanaka family groaned as she carried the boxes of soil back to the Yamanaka family flower shop, "What's the point of keeping forehead around if she can't even help me move around a few boxes…" Ino muttered.

Ino hated to say it, but she was beginning to resent her parents for making her work these long, boring shifts in favour of missions. Yes, somehow Ino Yamanaka was fed up with doing nothing – Luckily something interesting always seemed to find its way back to her, and this must be one of her luckiest days in a long time. It was him. Ino picked up her pace and proceeded quickly to the flower shop in order to make the day – hell, maybe even year of a certain pink-haired kunoichi.

* * *

"And that Shizune, is why I need my sake. Does it make sense now?" The Hokage said with a pleading look in her eye.

"You know the rules Lady Tsunade, no sake until after you arrive home." Shizune said, whisking the alcohol from the disappointed Hokage before a shinobi quickly ran into the room panting.

"Lord Hokage…" He said in between his exhausted pants.

"Spit it out, I'm really not in the mood." Tsunade said, looking at the bottle in Shizune's possession.

"They've returned." He said, making Tsunade and Shizune focus their attention on the ninja in front of them.

"I see…" Tsunade said before pausing, "Have them brought to see me immediately, bring Sakura Haruno and Kakashi Hatake as well." She said with as a small stoic smile made its way onto her face.

* * *

Sakura Haruno sat in the Yamanaka flower shop with a bored expression painted across her face as she reviewed the order list, she smiled as the silver bracelet on her wrist came into her gaze. Sakura rubbed her fingers across its metallic surface and examined the words engraved into the silver, the pink-haired teenager smiled as she remembered how her blonde-haired boyfriend had gotten it for her as a late-birthday present.

Sakura's musings were thoroughly disturbed as her boisterous best friend bursted through the doors of the flower shop.

"Sakura!" Ino shouted with a huge grin present on her face.

"You're awfully excited pig." Sakura, said twirling her fingers through her hair

"You should be too forehead!" Ino retorted giddily.

"What do you mean?" Sakura replied, confusion laced in her voice.

"He's back." Ino replied, smiling as she saw Sakura's eyes widen.

* * *

"Man, it's just like I remember it." The blonde teenager in the orange and black outfit stated out loud.

"Feeling nostalgic yet?" The man with long, grey hair replied.

"You bet." The blonde teenager said with a smile as they approached the gate.

"Excuse me, I'll need to see your passports. One of the ninja said.

"Juro-sama?" The blonde teen said with his eyed widened.

Juro inspected the boy closely, trying to gauge who he was.

" _That hair... it's him"_ Juro's eyes widened at his realization.

"Naruto Uzumaki!" The man replied with a huge grin on his bearded face.

The two hugged each tightly; Juro was shocked to see how tall Naruto was now. They were nearly the same height! Was this the same boy that left the village three years ago?

"Apologies, Jiraya-sama." Juro said as he paused to bow to sanin.

"It's no problem." Jiraya said, taking off his hat that had shielded him from the sun.

"Please, come in. Welcome home." Juro said as he signalled the gates to be opened.

Naruto looked overjoyed at the sight of the village, he quickly broke away from the group and climbed up a building in order to get a better overlook of the surrounding areas of the Leaf Village, he looked around the village he had been away from for three years and felt the homecoming nostalgia come rushing right back to him. He looked at Hokage monument and saw that indeed there was another face added to it.

"Wow, Sakura-chan was right. They really did do a good job on Baa-chan's head" Naruto thought out loud as he sat down on top of the roof.

"I'm back guys…" Naruto said quietly with a smile on his face.

* * *

"Sakura, slow down!" Ino complained as she tried to catch up with her friend.

" _Naruto… is it really you?"_ Sakura thought as she pushed forward along the path to the gate.

Three years, three long years of anticipation and waiting had finally ended. Sakura turned the corner and to her displeasure she saw only the grey-haired Sanin talking to Juro and Kakashi. Inquisitively, Sakura paced over to their position rather quickly.

"Jiraya-sama, where's Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked, nervously.

"I'm sorry Sakura…" Jiraya replied disappointedly, making Sakura jump to conclusions rapidly.

" _Naruto-kun…?"_ Sakura thought as she mentally withdrew from the conversation, ignoring what Jiraya was saying

"No, he can't be… You said you'd protect him!" Sakura yelled.

"Sakura I…-"

"No, how dare you take him away and then-" This time it was Sakura who was interrupted.

"Sakura, he's not dead. He's right behind you." Jiraya said, a bit annoyed at the girl.

Sakura swiftly turned around to see him; It really was him, it was Naruto. He looked much more… grown up. His face had matured greatly; his face now looked like that of an adult ninja and less like that of a child. His spiky blonde hair had grown out quite a bit, draping over his new black headband. She looked at his new orange and black outfit and smiled inwardly, finally the days of that hideously coloured jumpsuit were behind him. His blue eyes were the same as when he left, showing a surprised look of shock and excitement within them. He had definitely not been lying when he said that he had gotten taller, taller than her in fact.

"Sakura-chan…" He uttered out, his voice had gotten deeper as well.

Sakura looked at him a bit longer, he was… handsome. She gave him a small smile as she walked over to him with her green orbs shining brightly at him.

" _She's… beautiful."_ Naruto thought to himself as he examined his pink-haired girlfriend closely, she was definitely a lot taller than he remembered. She wore her hair pretty much the same as when he had originally left the village; this didn't bother him though, he always thought that look really suited her. He noted that her outfit had changed too. Gone was the dress that she originally wore when they were younger, she now wore a a skirt and short combo and a red top.

Naruto gazed at her figure as well, noting that she had 'filled out' in the way that Pervy-sage had described on their journey. Naruto closed his eyes for a second, trying to clear out any perverted thoughts that plagued his mind as he walked over to meet his girlfriend who was slowly pacing towards him.

"You look…" They both said at the same time, making each other giggle.

"You go." Naruto eased.

"No, you should go." Sakura replied back.

"Fine, you win." Naruto said with a defeated smile.

"You look beautiful." Naruto said as he leaned down and placed a tender kiss on the pink-haired girl's lips.

"I've been waiting three years for that." Naruto said with a gentle smile.

"Me too." Sakura said, echoing his smile.

"Hey there lovebirds." Jiraya said, butting in on their conversation making the two teenagers glance at him with awkward looks.

"Pervy-sage, go away!" Naruto groaned.

"Naruto…" Jiraya replied over dramatically, feigning and injury to his heart.

"Did you need something, Jiraya-sama?" Sakura replied through gritted teeth, trying to keep her composure.

"Ah yes, The Hokage has asked for our presence immediately. I'm heading there now with Kakashi; I'll see you two there." Jiraya said as he gave Naruto a pat on the back and winked at him, making Sakura ball her fists.

Sakura snaked her arms around the blonde and encased him in a tight hug as she pushed her head to his chest ever so slightly, sighing as she felt the familiarity of his warmth and safety return to her.

"You have gotten really tall." She said, poking his forehead with her finger.

"You've gotten really pretty." Naruto said with a smile.

"So I wasn't pretty before?" Sakura replied with a pout.

"N-No I didn't… I-" Naruto was trying to explain himself before he looked down at the giggling girl in his arms.

"I know what you meant." She said gently as she stood on up her toes and planted a quick kiss to his lips.

"We should go, I think three years is a long enough time to make Granny wait." He said as he released his arms from her slender waist.

Sakura giggled before nodding, "You're probably right." She said she linked her hands before they both proceeded to the Hokage's office.

* * *

"So, any updates on the Akatsuki?" Kakashi said as the two were walking down the empty street.

"We learned that Naruto isn't their only target. They're after each of the nine jinchuriki's power and have already made capture attempts on each of them, we are still lacking a motive behind it all though." Jiraya said.

"I see. And how has Naruto been?" Kakashi asked.

"He's grown up, he's much stronger now. I'd assess his skill level to be at around the level of a mid to high level chunin." Jiraya replied.

"That's not what I meant." Kakashi said, a more serious tone in his voice could be heard.

"I know." Jiraya sighed. "The seal Minato placed on him is weakening due to his excessive use of the nine-tails chakra. I noticed when we were bathing, some of the imprints that were originally on the seal have faded. I have it within good belief that Naruto can now acquire up to four-tails if pushed to that limit, as opposed to his previous one tail." Jiraya said as Kakashi nodded in response.

"So, I gather each tail weakens the seal significantly?" Kakashi replied.

"Yes, it seems that way. When practicing chakra control for the rasengan he suffered severe chakra depletion that's when things got a bit out of hand, he sprouted two tails when I was napping. He suggests that it happened subconsciously without his control; I managed to suppress the chakra with a paper seal. I don't know what'll happen if nobody's around to control him though." Jiraya said with hands in his pockets as they approached the doors to the Hokage office.

* * *

"You're being awfully quiet, are you sure you're ok Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked, looking over at her boyfriend who looked like he was in deep thought.

"Narutooo" Sakura called out as she clicked her fingers, breaking him from his trance.

"Sorry Sakura-chan, I must've zoned out!" Naruto lied though a fake smile.

Sakura looked at the boy, "Naruto. I've been training with Tsunade-sama for three years. I can pick up when somebody is lying." She said sternly before pausing and stepping in front of him.

"If you really love me, you need to start telling the truth. We're meant to take on each other's burdens. That's what love is." She said, giving him a reassuring smile as she ran her hand across his jaw.

"Those nightmares I told you about all those years ago? They returned a little while back, maybe 3 months ago." Naruto said, meeting her emerald gaze with his cerulean one.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sakura said, squeezing his hand.

Naruto nodded faintly as the two sat down under the shade of the blooming cherry blossom tree as Naruto cradled Sakura in his arms.

"This is nice." Naruto said as he tried to distract the girl from the matter at hand.

"Not gonna work." She smiled at him and he gave her a defeated look.

"It's the same dream, all the time. Like it's on loop or something." He paused, "I just keep… killing." Naruto sighed as his chin rested atop Sakura's head.

"Does it scare you?" Sakura asked.

"Sometimes." Naruto responded forthrightly.

"When?" Sakura asked, continuing with her questioning.

"When it's somebody important to me." Naruto said, gently tightening his grip on Sakura to assure that this was real.

"Sometimes it's just a random person then?" Sakura asked.

"Sometimes… and sometimes it's Mika-chan, or Granny, or Juro-sama, or Iruka-sensei... sometimes it's still you." Naruto said as he felt Sakura freeze up a little at his words.

"Do you regret it after?" Sakura asked, changing the position they sat in so she could look him in the eyes.

"So much. even if it's just somebody that I've never met before." Naruto said, tracing circles on Sakura's hand.

"Good." Sakura said, making Naruto look at her with a confused expression.

"Good?" Naruto said as he cocked his head to the left slightly.

"This. You talking to me about this stuff. It's good." She said, hugging him.

Naruto smiled and leaned into Sakura's hug. "Yeah, I guess it is pretty good." He replied warmly.

"We should get going; we can talk about this later ok?" Sakura said, standing up as she helped Naruto to his feet.

"Wow, you're strong Sakura-chan." Naruto replied with a mix of happiness and fear in his voice.

"I'd hope so. I've been training non-stop to keep up with you after all." She said with a grin.

* * *

"I guess we should be keeping a closer eye on him." Tsunade said as she took the report from Jiraya's hand.

"My thoughts exactly." Jiraya agreed.

"Tsunade-chan, may I make a request?" Jiraya asked the blonde Hokage who obliged with a curt nod of her head.

"Grant Naruto the chance to test his skills for the rank of chunin. I estimate his skills to be far above those of a genin; plus it would make sense for him to be the same rank as the rest of his class after all." Jiraya said.

"You really believe he's at that level?" Tsunade asked as she looked at the grey-haired man that stood before her.

"Of course, I trained him after all!" Jiraya said as he gave the Hokage a proud smile.

"Granny Tsunade!?" Naruto shouted from down the hall, making Jiraya's proud smile deflate.

"It seems you haven't trained him in manners though…" Tsunade replied with annoyance as she pinched her nose.

"Baa-chan!" Naruto exclaimed once more as he opened the door, Tsunade could see Sakura with her head hung down in embarrassment over her boyfriend's outbursts.

Tsunade's annoyance changed to a small smile as she inspected the blonde before her, he truly had grown up over those three years – physically atleast.

"Ah, yes. Welcome back brat." Tsunade said, trying to hide the grin that crossed her face.

"So, why did you want us all here anyways?" Jiraya asked, looking around the room at Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi who was leaning against the window excitedly reading a copy of his latest book in the make-out paradise series, which Jiraya thought was his best work to date.

"Well, you're right Jiraya. We should evaluate Naruto's skills and see exactly how he matches up to our leaf village shinobi." Tsunade said, looking at the blonde boy in front of her with a smile.

"Sakura and Naruto, you will be facing Kakashi in a two-on-one battle." Tsunade said, looking at the masked jounin.

"But Baa-chan, we'll wipe the floor with Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto complained.

"Don't be so sure of yourself Naruto." Kakashi said with a smile visible through the fabric of his mask.

"Kakashi-sensei's right Naruto-kun, he's an ex-ANBU black-op. It won't be easy to defeat him." Sakura said, trying to reason with her boyfriend.

"Alright then, you're on Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said, pointing to the Team 7 leader.

"Hm, meet me at our old training grounds tomorrow evening." Kakashi said as he jumped out the window, eager to finish off Jiraya's new work.

"I guess it's settled. We'll see you all tomorrow for evaluation." Tsunade said, dismissing the group of ninja before her.

* * *

"Oh, look at how big you are!" Mika cooed as she reached up and pinched his cheeks.

"Mika-chan, you're embarrassing me…" Naruto muttered as he looked at his giggling girlfriend.

Mika smiled and gave Sakura small hug as she motioned them both to sit down at the table for dinner as she listened to Naruto recount his day to her and Juro.

"So, you think you can take ol' Kakashi then?" Juro said, looking at the two.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something but Naruto cut her off with his typical response to any challenge, "Of course we can beat him!" Naruto exclaimed as he gave Juro a thumbs up.

"I'm sure you both can." Mika chimed in with a smile as she placed the food down onto the table.

Naruto smiled giddily as he began devouring the meal at great speed. Instant ramen was delicious but nothing compared to a home cooked meal by Mika-chan!

"So, am I still welcome to live in my old apartment Mika-chan?" Naruto asked as he looked at the brown haired woman who smiled and nodded.

"Of course, I cleaned it up a bit when we got your last letter. We even brought you some food since we thought you might be hungry." She said as she looked at Naruto who was smiling gratefully at the two landlords.

"You guys are really the best, I promise I'll repay y-"

"It's not a big deal Naruto-kun, I promise. Think of it as a homecoming gift." Mika smiled.

"You know you can't change Mika-chan's mind once it's set boy." Juro said as he stifled a laugh.

"Yeah, you're right." Naruto said with a gentle smile.

It was a nice dinner, Sakura smiled as she watched Naruto converse with the two like they were his parents which when she thought about it – they kind of were. She had a solemn look on her face for a little while as she thought how hard it must be not even knowing who your mother and father even were but smiled again when she realized that Naruto atleast had people that loved him when she was foolishly ignoring him.

Once the dinner was over Sakura and Naruto retreated back to Naruto's apartment to inspect it, waving goodbye to the two hospitable landlords as they left up the staircase.

"It looks just like I remember it." Naruto said with a happy grin.

"Yeah, it looks good." Sakura said as she turned around but didn't see him there.

"Naruto-kun?" She called out but didn't get a response, making her worried. Sakura walked around the apartment for a while with nervousness coating her face but let out a relieved sigh as she saw Naruto in his bedroom… looking at the wall?

"Naruto-kun?" She said quietly as she approached him hesitantly.

"They must've caught wind that I was returning." Naruto said with a sad smile.

What Sakura saw next made her sick to her stomach. Naruto's bedroom window was smashed through with what looked to be a brick, his wall had been recently painted on with black paint. The painted words read out _'Stay away demon, you are not welcome here'_ , making Sakura's heart sink.

"Naruto-kun, I-"

"No it's alright Sakura-chan. I'm used to it." Naruto said as he left for the kitchen to get a few sponges and a bucket.

" _He's used to it?"_ Sakura thought as she saw Naruto enter the bedroom once more, she walked over and grabbed a second sponge as she helped him rub the graffiti off the wall.

"It's ok Sakura-chan I can do i-"

"What did you mean when you said you were used to it?" Sakura asked worryingly.

Naruto sighed, "Ever since word got around that I lived here people started doing this when I was out on a mission." Naruto said as he continued scrubbing with no emotion on his face, like he didn't even care about this.

Sakura dropped her sponge and walked up behind her boyfriend as she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her head lightly into his back, feeling his muscles move as he continued to scrub.

"I-I'm sorry…" She whispered softly.

"You're not to blame." He said gently, trying to ease the pink-haired girls guilt.

"Maybe, but I still can't help but feel I was part of this group once. The ignorant people who treat you like dirt." She said as she tightened her hold around him.

"But you're not anymore." He said as he finished scrubbing the wall, he placed the sponge inside the bucket and then turned around to face the pink-haired beauty in front of him.

Sakura smiled as she stood on her toes to plant a kiss to his lips. Naruto smiled as they broke from the kiss and moved to grab the cleaning supplies before Sakura's voice hesitantly called out to him.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Sakura said nervously.

"Sakura-chan?" He responded, looking over at the green eyed girl who had a slight red flush across her face.

"Would you mind if I stayed here for the night? It's too late go walk back to the other side of the village and I'd really like to get good night's sleep" Sakura asked.

Naruto's eyes widened, _"The night… with Sakura-chan…?"_ Naruto's lips tried to move but he couldn't find the words. He simply nodded a 'yes' in response to the girl in front of him.

"I guess I'll go shower first, don't peak or do anything perverted!" She warned.

Naruto sat down on the bed, never in a million years did he think Sakura Haruno would ask to 'sleep' at his place. He was broken from his thoughts as he heard the shower begin to run. He walked past the door and blushed as thought about the sight that would be lying beyond the door but shook it from his mind as he prepared his overnight couch bed for himself.

Ten minutes later Sakura nervously called out from the shower, getting Naruto's attention. "Sakura-chan, are you alright?" Naruto asked.

"Umm… I don't really have anything to sleep in, Naruto-kun." She said awkwardly.

Naruto's eyes widened at what she meant, "OH!" He exclaimed as he quickly rushed to his room, looking for anything for the girl to wear.

"This will do!" He quietly said to himself as he pulled a shirt and a pair of boxer shorts out of his travel bag.

Naruto knocked on the door, getting Sakura's attention. "Sakura-chan, I'm going to put my arm in there ok? I have some clothes for you. I promise I won't peak." He said as he carefully slid the door open.

" _I wouldn't mind if you do…"_ Sakura thought before shaking the perverted thoughts from her head as she grabbed the t-shirt and boxers from Naruto.

The black shirt was really too big for her. Then again, Naruto had gotten much taller so it made sense. She slipped the boxer shorts too, they felt nice – she smiled at Naruto's kindness and made a note she would thank him later for lending her some clothes in absence of her own.

Sakura yawned tiredly as she emerged from the shower before signalling to Naruto that it was his turn, once both of them had finished their nightly rituals it was time to go to bed. Naruto and Sakura sat on the end of the bed in silence before Naruto decided to speak up.

"Well, goodnight Sakura-chan." Naruto said as he got up and kissed her on the cheek before preparing to leave the room, as he was about to leave he felt Sakura reach out and grab him.

"Where are you going Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked.

"To the couch?" Naruto replied, confused.

"Naruto-kun, we've been dating for over three years now. I think it's okay if we sleep in the same bed." Sakura said as a light blushed crossed her face, meanwhile Naruto looked as red a tomato.

"A-are you sure Sakura-chan?" Naruto spluttered out, look at the girl who was trying her best to remain composed.

"Y-Yeah, just don't try anything perverted. Ok?" She said as she stood up and slipped under the blankets.

Naruto faintly nodded as he too picked up the blanket and moved under it, a blush still coating his face.

Sakura rolled over and locked her green orbs with Naruto's blue ones and smiled gently at the boy, "Just because I said you couldn't do anything perverted doesn't mean we can't be close Naruto-kun." Sakura said as she scooted over incredibly close to the boy and pressed her back to his chest as she grabbed his arms and wrapped them around her waist. Sakura smiled at the relaxing warmth she felt in his presence. Naruto too acknowledged that this position made him feel nice, like he was protecting her. They snuggled closer and they both attempted to drift off to sleep.

"Naruto-kun?" Sakura quietly called out.

"Hm?" Naruto groggily responded.

"Nightmares aren't real. And you're not a murderer. You're the furthest thing from one." She said rubbing her hand across his larger one.

"Thanks Sakura-chan. I'm fine now." Naruto said with a tired smile as he drifted off to sleep.

" _Naruto… are you really fine?"_ Sakura thought to herself before letting the exhaustion of Naruto's homecoming lull her to sleep as well.


	9. Chapter 7

Naruto groaned as he stirred awake in his bedroom, a room which felt particularly empty due to the missing presence of his pink-haired girlfriend. He yawned loudly as he outstretched his limbs across the bed and smiled dreamily at the delicious smell emanating from the kitchen. He removed his blanket and got up from the bed, stretching his muscles while doing so. Naruto proceeded out the door and into the kitchen to see what the delicious smell was.

The blonde boy entered the kitchen and saw one of the most beautiful sights in his entire life. Sakura Haruno, clothed in his oversized shirt and boxers was plating up a breakfast dish consisting of bacon and scrambled eggs for the both of them.

"About time you got up." She said, smiling gently at the blonde.

"Did you cook this Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he inspected the food on his kitchen table.

Sakura nodded proudly as she saw her boyfriend staring hungrily at the meal in front of him, "Yep, I thought you could use something else inside your stomach besides ramen. We need you in top shape for our examination!" Sakura said as she finished placing the last strip of bacon on his plate.

"You're amazing Sakura-chan!" Naruto said as he sat down, making the girl blush slightly at his comment.

"It's nothing special Naruto-kun." Sakura said through her blush as she sat down at the table and began to eat her meal with him, giggling as she saw Naruto hurriedly devouring down all that was put in front of him.

Naruto stopped his rapidly paced eating and stared at his girlfriend, making her slightly worried. "It's not bad is it?" Sakura asked as she looked Naruto who had yet to open his mouth.

"No." He finally spoke with a small smile on his face, "It's perfect." Naruto said, looking at the girl in front of him.

"Then what's wrong?" She asked, obviously confused by the blonde's weird remarks.

"I… I can't really explain it. This just makes me feel really happy." He said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head with a big, stupid grin on his face.

Sakura smiled gently at the blonde as she went back to eating her breakfast, occasionally looking at her boyfriend who was devouring his meal at twice the pace.

* * *

"Alright you two, here's how the trial will work." Tsunade said as she looked at the two ninjas before her.

"Your goal will be to grab the red flag in Kakashi's possession by any means necessary other than fatal harm, we can heal any injuries caused by ninjutsu or taijutsu quite quickly and easily so don't hold back. This will be designed to test your individual abilities and your abilities to work as a team. The test begins when Kakashi signals to start, you have till midnight to retrieve the flag." Tsunade said as she walked out of the field, joining Jiraya under the shade of the large tree.

"Piece of cake, Baa-chan." Naruto said, crunching his knuckles together.

"Alright, let's begin." Kakashi said, placing the flag in his back pocket.

"Wait, Naruto-kun!" Sakura tried to shout but Naruto was already rushing the Team 7 leader at an incredibly fast pace, ignoring his girlfriend who was visibly annoyed at his impatience.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as three more copies of himself emerged from plumes of smoke and began rushing ahead to attack Kakashi.

The first Naruto clone attempted a jumping kick at Kakashi but was swatted out the air by a quickly executed spinning heel kick while the second clone slid in behind the jounin sensei who jumped the clones sliding attack with ease, leaving the clone and the original Naruto rushing down Kakashi in a two-on-one assault. The clone was quickly dispatched with an elbow to the head while the original Naruto got a small amount of offence in before being kicked back to where he started.

Kakashi noticed Sakura was not with Naruto and began scanning the area around the forest for any traces of her, Kakashi was shocked that his student had managed to elude him for so long but was even more shocked that he saw her in the air about to hit him with a chakra enhanced blow, he barely made it out in time and was lucky he did. The crater Sakura had made caused Naruto and Jiraya to look at the girl with shocked expressions.

"That was very impressive Sakura; I forgot you've been training with Tsunade-sama as well." Kakashi said, giving the girl a one eyed smile.

Sakura didn't take time to respond to her sensei's praise as she knew he was just buying himself time. She instead continued to rush him down, hoping to keep the pressure on him, Sakura launched a flurry of chakra-enhanced strikes at Kakashi and smiled as the final one seemed to hit… a log?

"Watch out Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out.

" _Substitution!"_ Sakura exclaimed in thought as she barely ducked under a kick from her sensei, she quickly retreated back to a safe distance next to Naruto who was already readying another attack.

"Hold on Naruto." Sakura said, as she placed a hand in front of her boyfriend.

"What's wrong Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as looked down at the pinkette kneeling down in front of him.

"We won't be able to connect any blows against him one on one, we need to work together like Tsunade-sama said." Sakura ordered as she looked up at Naruto who nodded in agreement.

"Do you have a plan Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he conferred with his girlfriend while Kakashi looked at the whispering ninja.

" _Hmm, he's actually listening to her and not running in like a brash idiot. Good job Naruto."_ Kakashi thought as he examined the flag in his back pocket.

" _They've definitely improved; I won't be able to take them both on for this long. Not with Naruto's stamina coming in to play."_ Kakashi thought.

"Ready Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked with a grin on her face.

Naruto nodded confidently, "Yeah, let's do this." He uttered out as he tightened his headband.

" _I hope this works…"_ Sakura thought as she began channeling chakra in her arm, a ball of what appeared to be lightning started forming at the base of Sakura's palm making Naruto look at her proudly.

* * *

"He didn't teach her that did he!?" Tsunade exclaimed angrily.

" _Hmm, this girl's got talent."_ Jiraya thought with his arms crossed.

* * *

"Naruto!" Sakura said as she looked over at the blonde.

"Got it!" Naruto said as he began to create a rasengan in his palm without the help of a clone.

* * *

"So he's learned to do it correctly, huh?" Tsunade said, looking at Jiraya.

"It wasn't easy, but he did it." Jiraya said, smiling proudly at the boy.

* * *

Naruto smiled at Sakura who in turn smiled back at him as they both turned to face their sensei.

"Here we go!" They both said in unison.

Sakura charged her sensei at blinding speeds due her channeling chakra into her feet, the lighting emitting from the move was creating a large trail in the ground as she ran at her sensei. Naruto ran beside her as the rasengan swirled in his palm.

" _They've really improved, I didn't think I'd have to use this."_ Kakashi said as he reached for his forehead protector.

The two ninjas smiled as they were about to hit Kakashi before he managed to barely move out the way with split second timing, Naruto and Sakura abruptly stopped their charge as they turned around to face their sensei's back.

"Well, that was a close one." He said, turning around to reveal the sharingan to his two shocked students.

"He's using the sharingan? That's unfair!" Naruto muttered.

"No." Sakura said with a smile on her face before speaking out loud. "He's using it because he's having trouble fighting us, we've got him on the ropes. Isn't that right Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura said loudly with a grin as she looked at her sensei who smiled at the girl proudly.

"You've learned to read a battle well Sakura, good job. Now let's do this for real." Kakashi said as he eyed both his students proudly before his look changed to something more serious.

Kakashi quickly summon two of his ninja hounds to who proceeded to charge at the students while he ran behind the hounds, creating seven shadow clones on his approach towards his students.

"Sakura-chan, I'll focus on the clones." Naruto said as he made seven clones to equal Kakashi and charged at them from the far right, avoiding the path of the charging dogs.

Sakura saw Naruto run wide of the dogs and dodged their charge herself by jumping over them while throwing a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it into one of the dogs, eliminating it from the battle.

Naruto and Kakashi's clones charged at each other, once the collided it was a war of taijutsu; Kakashi telegraphed each and every one of Naruto's attack, leaving the original Naruto on his own as the Kakashi's circled around him with smiles on their faces.

"Looks like I win this one Naruto." Kakashi chuckled slightly.

While Kakashi was smiling about his victory he heard the faint hiss of an explosive seal and saw that Naruto was holding one in his hand with a grin on his face, the jounin managed to get away but his clones weren't so lucky and got obliterated by the explosion.

Kakashi looked around and saw Naruto waving at him at a safe distance from the explosion; Kakashi gave his student a one eyed smile.

"How'd you do that, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, moving his head slightly to the left.

"When my clones were running towards you we ran in a wall formation. I went behind the wall of clones and made an extra clone, then I used a transformation jutsu to turn into a tree stump." Naruto said as he gave his teacher a thumbs up.

" _Naruto… you've improved leaps and bounds."_ Kakashi thought as he looked at the orange and black clad genin.

* * *

"Naruto did that on the fly like that? That's ingenious." Tsunade said, quite shocked by what she had just seen.

"I told you, he's my student – He's inherited his teachers smarts." Jiraya said with a big grin on his face.

* * *

" _This dog never gives up…"_ Sakura thought as she dodged yet another swipe from the large ninken.

Sakura had enough of dodging and finally decided to take action, she rushed some chakra to her hand and quickly jabbed the dog in his left front leg, effectively paralyzing it. Sakura gave the dog a sad look as she saw it whimper on the ground as it tried to move, "Sorry doggy." She said apologetically as she hit it once more, causing it to disappear.

Sakura was broken from her sad trance as she heard heavy impacting blows from behind her, she quickly rushed over and caught Naruto who was sent backwards by one of Kakashi's kicks.

"How'd you do?" Naruto asked groggily, panting in exhaustion.

"I don't like hurting dogs." She paused for a minute to reflect on her battle, "Make any progress?" Sakura asked.

"Barely anything, I can't get near him with his damn sharingan." Naruto said as he stood up from Sakura's grasp.

Sakura quickly healed Naruto of his injuries and exhaustion with her medical chakra as she looked at her sensei who was walking away from the battle.

"Where do you think you're going!?" Naruto called out.

"I'm taking a break." Kakashi said as he disappeared from the area, leaving his two students alone in the field together.

"We… We should go after him…" Sakura said in a tone that was both exhausted and determined as she slowly paced off in the direction Kakashi jumped.

Sakura made it almost a meter before collapsing into what she thought would be the ground; instead the blonde ninja leaned down and let her body impact on his back. Naruto lifted the pinkette up by her legs into a piggyback position and proceeded to walk into the forest with the girl in his arms.

"I… I can walk by myself Naruto." She said, trying her best to resist the comfortable feeling she felt.

"No you can't. You've exhausted a lot of chakra. Even an idiot like me can tell." He said, turning his head slightly to give her a view of his smile.

"Fine…" Sakura sighed in defeat, "What are we doing then?" Sakura asked the blonde who was carrying her.

"Kakashi said he wanted to take a break, so we will too. We still have plenty of time judging by the sun." Naruto said as he gently placed Sakura down at the base of a tree. Sakura tried her best to resist the temptation of passing out from chakra depletion but it seemed to have overtook her even when she was using all her will to fight it.

Naruto smiled as the pink-haired kunoichi gently shut her eyes as her body began to rise and fall with each drawn out breath, Naruto walked off down the path to gather some fire wood.

* * *

"Darn it, I can't see them anymore." Tsunade said with an annoyed grunt.

"It's alright; Kakashi will give us the rest of his evaluation anyways." Jiraya said, trying to calm the Hokage.

"You're probably right." Tsunade paused as she let out a long, drawn out sigh, "Come, we should head back to my office." The Hokage said as she stood up.

"Tsunade-chan, that's very kinky of you." Jiraya said with a perverted smile.

"Not for that, you idiot!" Tsunade exclaimed angrily before she regained her composure, "We need to talk about your next mission." Tsunade said as she looked the grey-haired man in the eyes as he nodded in response to her. And thus, the two sanin retreated back to the village.

* * *

Sakura awoke to a feel a warm sensation in front of her, she groggily opened her eyes to see a vibrant glow in front of where she had woken up. Sakura's eyes jolted awake as she realized that she was meant to be in an examination right now. She relaxed however when she saw her blonde boyfriend roasting a fish over the fire with a stick.

"Oh. hey Sakura-chan." Naruto said, giving the pink-haired girl a small wave.

"Naruto-kun? What time is it?" Sakura asked.

"Around six at night. Come on, you should eat." Naruto said as he passed the roasted fish over to Sakura.

"T-Thanks Naruto-kun." She said with a small smile as she took a few bites of the fish before handing it back to him.

"Are you feeling better now, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, concerned over his girlfriend.

"Yeah, I'm fine you big loving goof." She said, reaching out and rubbing his hand as she sat up straight.

"So, what's our plan of attack boss?" Naruto asked as he looked at the green-eyed girl.

Sakura sat there in thought for a moment, letting her eyes wander over the flickering flames of the fire before her eyes widened and a happy smile spread across her face.

"I have one last idea, it's sure to work!" Sakura said with a confident grin.

* * *

" _It's been a while. They better not have left me here."_ Kakashi said as flipped through to the next page of the book.

"Oh, Mokimichi! You scoundrel!" Kakashi exclaimed quietly with as he inspected the chapter closer.

Kakashi closed the book as he felt the familiar chakra of his students approach his position. Kakashi stood up and looked around the area as he pulled out his kunai, awaiting his students to attack.

"They're close." Kakashi said to himself before he felt the tree's rustle not too far away from his current position.

As if almost on cue both Naruto and Sakura jumped from the tree and were heading towards their jounin sensei before Naruto began opening his mouth.

"Kakashi-sensei, I know the final plot twist to Make-Out Tactics!" Naruto said as he landed in front of his jounin-sensei, followed by Sakura.

"Y-You're bluffing!" Kakashi said as his eyes widened in horror.

"I was in the room with Jiraya-sensei when he wrote it!" Naruto said with a grin on his face.

"The final plot twist is-"

"Shut up!" Kakashi said as he covered his ears, trying to avoid Naruto's spoiler.

" _Oh no! I can read his lips because of the damn sharingan!"_ Kakashi exclaimed in thought as he shut his eyes desperately.

At last Kakashi was at peace, he wouldn't have to worry about Naruto spoiling anything for him. He sighed peacefully before opening his eyes and releasing his hands from his ears.

"We got it!" Naruto shouted happily as he jumped up in the air with the flag in his possession, Sakura also joined in and started cheering gleefully with the blonde.

"H-How?" Kakashi asked in shock.

"Never close your eyes on a shinobi sensei, and especially don't cover your ears." Sakura said with a smile.

"I see…" Kakashi sighed out in defeat before looking at the two students in front of him. "Good work, I'm proud of the both of you." He said with a smile.

Naruto and Sakura returned their sensei's smile before Kakashi approached Naruto and locked his eyes with Naruto's blue orbs.

"Did you really know the plot twist to Make-Out Tactics?" Kakashi asked.

"Nope." Naruto grinned sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head.

Kakashi chuckled as he ruffled the blonde's hair playfully, "Come on, if we hurry back we can catch Tsunade-sama before she leaves." Kakashi said as he jumped off, followed by his students.

* * *

"I see, so you've discovered where he can be found." Jiraya said, looking at Tsunade with a serious expression on his face.

"Yes. It's on the outskirts of Amegakure, The Village Hidden in the Rain." Tsunade said, passing Jiraya the scroll.

"So, what is it you want me to do?" Jiraya asked.

"You're to gather information, nothing more. Do not engage the enemy." Tsunade ordered.

"Alright…" Jiraya paused as he slipped the scroll into his pocket, "Tsunade-chan, in case I don't return-"

"What do you mean 'don't return'?" Tsunade questioned worriedly.

"You know what I mean…" Jiraya said as he took a serious pause, he felt the tone in the room change as he continued to speak. "Give Naruto this scroll, it contains information that he must know." Jiraya said as he looked at Tsunade before sliding the scroll across to her.

"You'd better come back, you idiot." Tsunade said as her voice began wavering.

"You never know when a plot twist can happen, Tsunade-chan." Jiraya said as he kissed the Hokage's hand before leaving the room.

Tsunade said there for what seemed like forever, mulling over her thoughts before the doors opened once more to reveal Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto.

"So, how'd it go?" Tsunade asked, trying to keep her composure in front of the ninjas.

"They worked extremely well together as a team and what's more, they were able to get the flag from me." Kakashi said as he saw Naruto hold the flag up happily.

"Naruto Uzumaki, step forward." Tsunade said as she made a hand gesture for the blonde to approach her.

Tsunade stood up out of her chair and approached the front of the desk where the blonde stood and looked him in his cerulean blue eyes as he looked back at her with a nervous expression laced across his features.

"Naruto Uzumaki, for your services towards the Leaf Village and your exceptional work in the ninja field I am proud to present you with the rank of Chunin." Tsunade said proudly as she looked upon the blonde who looked to be holding back tears.

"T-Thank you Tsunade-sama." Naruto said as he returned back to his place with a small smile present on his face, Sakura, Kakashi and even Tsunade were surprised by his sudden accommodation of manners.

"Sakura Haruno, step forward." Tsunade said as she called the pink-haired kunoichi over to her.

"For your remarkable work in the field of medical jutsu and your ability to work well with a team, I am assigning you the role of combat medic." Tsunade said as she gave the teen a small pin on to place on her shirt that would identify her as such.

"Wait, why didn't Sakura become a Chunin as well! She's just as good as me!" Naruto complained angrily.

"Sakura already became a Chunin quite a while ago, you were the only student from your class who had yet to become one, Naruto." Tsunade replied to the blonde who looked a bit deflated at her comment.

"It's ok Naruto-kun, I'm still proud of you." Sakura said with a smile as the returned to her place beside the blonde.

"Thanks Sakura-chan." Naruto said, feeling a bit more upbeat at Sakura's praise.

"Kakashi Hatake, step forward." Tsunade said as she looked the jounin in front of her.

"I am relieve you of your services as Team 7's jounin sensei." Tsunade said as she looked at the silver-haired ninja who nodded in response.

"Wait, what!?" Sakura and Naruto both said in response.

"You can't just get rid of Kakashi-sensei, Tsunade-sama!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Let me finish then, both of you." Tsunade said as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

The two chunin piped down as they listened to what the Hokage had to say, "Team 7 will still exist as a three ninja unit.. However you will all be treated as equals due to your ranks." Tsunade paused once more as she looked at the three in the room, "Kakashi will still have some lenience over you due to experience and rank but you will make your decisions in terms of how you will attempt missions as a group." Tsunade finished.

"Understood." The three said in unison.

"Now, get out of my office so I can go home." Tsunade said tiredly as she sat back down in her chair.

The three ninja nodded and proceeded out of the office accordingly, Kakashi looked at his two genin students who were walking hand in hand and smiled at them. _"You two have really grown up…"_ Kakashi thought to himself as they proceeded out of the hallway.

* * *

"You did really good today, Sakura-chan." Naruto said as the two stopped at the front door of Sakura's parents' house.

"Thanks Naruto." She said, squeezing his hand a bit tighter.

"No, I mean it. You totally kicked butt." Naruto said, making Sakura blush a little.

"I should let you go eat dinner." Naruto said as he let go of his girlfriend hand, "Goodnight Sakura-chan." Naruto said as he went to leave he could feel Sakura tug on the back of his shirt.

"Maybe I don't want to eat yet." Sakura said with a naughty grin as she pulled Naruto towards her via his hand.

Sakura stood on the step so that her face was level with her boyfriends before she pulled him into a passionate kiss, giggling naughtily as she felt him press her closer to him. The two engaged in tongue warfare for the better half of five minutes before they heard an interrupting cough come from the door.

Naruto quickly broke the kiss and looked up at Sakura's father who was staring down at him quite heavily. "I-I'm sorry sir. I-"

"No, I intruded. It's my bad." Sakura's father said calmly.

"Dad?" Sakura said, confused.

"Naruto, do you want to come in for some dinner?" Sakura's father asked as he looked down at the blonde boy who he had to admit, had grown quite a lot in three years.

"Y-Yes sir. Thank you for your hospitality." Naruto replied as he followed the man in, Sakura entered behind her blonde boyfriend.

"Please, call me Kizashi." Her father paused as he called out to the kitchen, "Mebuki, we have a guest!" Kizashi exclaimed making Sakura's mother turn around.

"N-Naruto" Mebuki said as she looked upon the boy who now looked much more like a man.

"Hi, Mrs. Haruno." Naruto said as he bowed in front of the woman, making her giggle.

"I'm not the Hokage, silly. You don't need to bow for me." She said as the blonde nodded nervously.

The four took a seat at the dinner table, Sakura sat there quietly and prayed that her parents wouldn't do anything weird or awkward to the boy. Naruto and Kizashi began eating the meal that Mebuki had made.

"Is it good Naruto? I'm sorry if it's not enough. I didn't prepare for four people." She said sheepishly.

"It's fine Mrs. Haruno, it taste great." Naruto said, giving Mebuki a small smile.

10 minutes had passed and the group sat there eating dinner in relative silence until Kizashi decided to speak, "So Naruto, what are your intentions with my beautiful Sakura?" Kizashi asked, making Naruto choke on his food a little.

"Dad!" Sakura exclaimed as she hid her blush.

"Uh…. I guess I want to have a relationship with her, sir." Naruto said nervously.

"What kind of relationship?" Kizashi asked inquisitively.

"A… good one?" Naruto said as Sakura gripped his hand under the table to help ease his nervousness. This didn't go unnoticed by Kizashi.

"Do you want to marry her?" Kizashi asked, making both Naruto and Sakura turn as red as tomatoes.

Naruto looked at the pink haired girl and then looked back at Kizashi with his face still bright red, "Y-Yes. Maybe in a few years when we both have settled down a bit I'd like to marry her." Naruto said, looking Kizashi in the eyes.

"I assume that means having children one day as well?" Kizashi asked, at this point Sakura had her head hidden behind her hands, this was embarrassing for them both and her father knew it.

"U-Um, I… Ch..-" Naruto tried to stutter out before Sakura spoke for him, "Maybe one day we'll have kids, maybe we won't. It's not really the time to think about it yet." Sakura said as she squeezed her boyfriend's hand under the table.

"Hm, alright." Kizashi said as he stood up and ordered Naruto to do so as well.

"Naruto, you're not as bad as I thought you were and I'm sorry for my actions previously. I wish I'd put up more of fight but I guess it's time for her to grow up." Kizashi paused as he looked down at his daughter. "Sakura loves you, I can see that. Please… take care of her." Kizashi said as he shook Naruto's hand before he walked up the stairs, leaving the three remaining people with surprised expressions on their faces.

Mebuki smiled at her husband's retreating figure as he proceeded up the stairscase, "He may not show it, but he just wants you to be happy Sakura." Mebuki said, speaking out loud.

" _Dad…"_ Sakura thought to herself with a wide-eyed expression as she smiled at her father for the first time in a long time.

"I'm going to bed as well, have fun you two." Mebuki winked, making the two blush slightly at Sakura's mother's suggestive tone.

"Naruto-kun, are you alright?" Sakura said as she looked at her boyfriend who still seemed to be standing in the same place.

"Did we just get permission to date?" Naruto asked as he turned around with a confused expression.

"I guess so…" Sakura replied as she stood up and hugged her boyfriend tightly, "Thank you for putting up with them, Naruto-kun." She said with a small smile on her face.

"Your father still scares me, Sakura-chan." Naruto hesitantly said, making Sakura giggle.

Sakura yawned as she leaned her head deeper against her boyfriends chest, she looked up at the blonde's blue eyes and smiled at him.

"I'm gonna go to bed, Naruto-kun," Sakura tiredly uttered out.

"Alright, goodnight Sakura-chan." Naruto said as he broke his embrace from the pink-haired girl and proceeded towards the door.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Sakura called out as she saw the blonde turn around to look at her, "Are you sure you don't want to stay the night? I don't think my parents would mind." Sakura said with a small smile on her face.

"I'd love to Sakura-chan, but I can't really sleep in your clothes." Naruto said, making the pink-haired chunin giggle and nod.

"I guess you're right. See you tomorrow then?" She asked, feeling remorseful about letting him go.

"Of course. Love you, Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out as he exited the door.

Sakura sighed for a bit as she proceeded to walk slowly up the stairs before turning around and looking at the door swaying open in the wind, "Screw it." Sakura said as she proceeded quickly down the stairs and out the door.

* * *

"Man, is that what it's like to have parents?" Naruto asked himself as he walked down the street with his hands in his pockets. "They sure are weird." He muttered with a small smile.

Naruto walked up the street for a little while longer before he heard the familiar voice of his girlfriend behind him, Naruto turned around to see the pink-haired kunoichi running down the street towards him. Sakura collided with Naruto and crashed her lips to his, Naruto responded by snaking his arms around her waist and deepening the kiss. After five long minutes of bliss the two finally broke their embrace, Sakura decided to speak up first.

"I… I don't want to be apart from you Naruto-kun, I don't know what it is but I want to stay with you." She said, gripping his hand lightly.

Naruto smiled at the pinkette and planted another chaste kiss to her lips before looking at his girlfriend of three years with hope in his eyes, "Move in with me then, Sakura-chan." He said, making the pink-haired kunoichi's eyes widen.

Sakura smiled and nodded at the boy as they passionately collided their lips together once more before embracing with smiles laced across their faces. "There's nothing more I'd rather do." Sakura said, taking his hand in hers as they proceeded down the street together.


	10. Chapter 8

**AN: Trying out a new way of structuring the story, rather than spacing everything out I'll try to paragraph it a bit more to tidy it up. I'd like to know your opinions of which style of writing you all prefer. Other than that, enjoy the new chapter!**

* * *

Sakura and Naruto sat together on the couch, looking at the boxes at littered his living space. Naruto stared at his surroundings nervously while Sakura was excited to begin unpacking. "Are you sure you'll have enough space, Sakura-chan?" Naruto said, looking at the pink-haired kunoichi beside him who had a happy grin on her face.

"Of course, we can make it work. I'm sure of it." She said happily as she took his hand in hers. This was a big step for both herself and Naruto, Sakura wanted to make sure he felt as comfortable as possible during the process of her moving in. "Is this really what you want, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked hesitantly as he stared at the pink-haired girl who was gripping his hand gently, Sakura didn't reply for a small lapse of time, not helping to ease the blonde's nervousness. Sakura grinned at the boy and nodded in confirmation, "I'll admit this still feels weird, this is really new to me. It makes me really excited too, like we're finally taking that next step." Sakura said with an ear to ear grin. Naruto smiled as he embraced his girlfriend tightly and breathed in the scent of her hair, smiling at the comfort it brought him. "How did your parents take it?" Naruto asked as he broke the embrace.

"Well…"

* * *

" _WHAT!?" Kizashi and Mebuki both exclaimed with wide eyes._

" _It was kind of a spur of the moment type of thing." Sakura awkwardly giggled at her parents who didn't seem to be amused. "Sakura, you're only 16. I know you'll be seventeen soon but that's still not old enough to move out!" Mebuki said worriedly. "I agree with your mother, I'm afraid the answer is no." Kizashi said, feeling saddened at his daughter's heartbroken expression .Sakura looked at her parents desperately "b-but..-"_

" _No means no, Sakura." Mebuki reinforced, sighing at the stern tone she had to take with her daughter._

 _Sakura ran off into her room and slammed the door shut hard as she planted her face into her pillow, letting her frustrations out across its fabric surface. She was almost seventeen for crying out loud, in the ninja world it's not uncommon for ninjas to move out of their parents homes when they attain the rank of chunin. Why were they being so stuck up about this!_

Kizashi stood there for what seemed like forever before finally speaking up, "i've _changed my mind." Kizashi said as he looked over at his wife who bore a surprised expression across her face, "You can't be serious, dear." Mebuki replied. "We can't continue to be walls for her, Mebuki-chan. She needs to grow up without our help sometimes." Kizashi said as he kissed the cheek of his wife. Mebuki sighed nodded, showing a small smile to the man she loved. "Well then, go tell her." Mebuki said, gesturing to the staircase._

 _Kizashi proceeded up the staircase and approached the door to Sakura's room, he smiled thankfully at the fact that the door wasn't locked, "Sakura, dear?" Kizashi said as he gently slid the door open, his voice escaping into Sakura's room through the small opening in the doorway._

" _What do you want?" She said, her voice muffled by the pillow._

 _Kizashi sighed as he walked into the room and sat down on the bed, his daughter still face-first in the pillow._

" _Is this really what you want?" Kizashi asked as he looked down at his daughter who had shifted onto her side in order for Kizashi to see her face._

" _I… Y-Yes, this is what I want." Sakura said, nodding in responseto her father's question._

 _Kizashi looked at the light pink walls of his daughter's room and smiled, "It was your mother's idea to paint this room pink. I still think it looks ugly." Kizashi smiled as he looked over to the dresser and saw some of Sakura's old photos, he stood up from the bed and walked over to inspect them. It was a picture of Sakura and Ino when they were about 8 years old; Sakura was lying on her stomach, holding her head up with her hands and was smiling at the camera. Ino was sitting on Sakura with a victorious expression across her face but was still smiling and showing a peace sign to the camera. Kizashi looked back at his much older daughter and smiled at her, causing her to look at him with a confused expression._

" _Dad?" Sakura said, cocking her head to the left slightly to accentuate her confusion._

" _You've grown up so much, I'm so proud of you." Kizashi said as he returned his place on the edge of his daughter's bed, Sakura gave him a small smile in response._

" _I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them, Sakura-chan…" Her father said as a small tear rode down his features._

 _Sakura got up from her position and sat next to her father, leaning her head into him as he wrapped his arm around her. Five minutes passed before Kizashi finally spoke up, "If this is truly what your heart desires, I can't keep you here." Kizashi said as he paused, his voice audibly wavering slightly, he stood up from the bed and slowly moved towards the door as he looked around the room, as if taking one final look at all the memories it withheld behind its walls. He reached the doorway before turning around to face his daughter who was smiling gently at him; He pictured her there on the bed as his baby girl, his little Sakura. But she wasn't his little Sakura anymore. She had grown up; his thoughts of that little girl were replaced by the strong young woman that was in front of him._

" _Sakura-chan, there are two times when parenting is the most difficult. When the baby first arrives at home… and when the adult leaves home." Kizashi said as he looked at his daughter who was holding back her tears, "But your home isn't here anymore, I understand that now." Kizashi said as he closed the door gently behind him._

* * *

Naruto felt a slight pang of guilt run through him as his stomach sank slightly from the feeling, he felt like a home wrecker. He robbed Kizashi of his daughter, the daughter he raised, the daughter he cared for, the daughter he now probably missed greatly. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan." Naruto said with self-disappointment evident in his tone of voice.

"For what, Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked, hearing the wavering voice of her boyfriend. Naruto sighed as he gripped her hand a little tighter, "I had no right to take you from your father and mother, from the home you grew up in." Naruto said as a sad expression crossed his face, Sakura noticed this and wrapped her arms gently around her blonde knucklehead, "You didn't take me from anyone, Naruto-kun. I chose to be here because this is where I really belong. Right here with you." Sakura finished as they broke their embrace, gazing into one another's eyes. Naruto leaned forward and crashed his lips to Sakura's making her squeal a bit at the sudden contact but she quickly regained her composure and snaked her arms around him, pressing her closer and closer to him until they were squashed together tightly, Naruto blushed as he realized what was pushing against his chest. Their kiss only lasted a few moments longer but the two chunin broke from it with content smiles across their faces.

* * *

"So, you three want a mission?" Tsunade asked as she inspected the three ninja in front of her. "You bet, Baa-chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he excitedly awaited the amazing mission that was sure to follow.

"Stop calling me that!" Tsunade barked out, silencing the hyperactive blonde. "Well, we don't really have much available at the moment. Sor-" Naruto slammed his fist down gently on the tale, surprising everybody in the room "don't give me that, Baa-chan! There has to be something!" Naruto complained loudly, much to Sakura's displeasure.

Tsunade sighed at his continued use of the infuriating suffix before she looked over at the three, "Look, if you're that desperate to earn money you can all go guard the Tenchi Bridge for a day." Tsunade said, as the three nodded. "Consider it a C rank mission, that's the best I can do. Get packed and leave before nightfall." Tsunade ordered as the three ninja left her room, one definitely more excited than the rest.

* * *

"Naruto, slow down. The bridge isn't going anywhere." Kakashi said, trying to calm down the blonde. "I can't Kakashi-sensei, this is my first mission in three years!" Naruto said, pure happiness in his voice. Sakura looked at her boyfriend, he seemed genuinely happy; she couldn't help but smile upon seeing the ear to ear grin on his face.

The first night was uneventful, dreadfully uneventful. Naruto sat with Kakashi while Sakura sat on a wooden placed a small distance away from the boys and casually looked up at the stars. "So, I hear you two have moved in together." Kakashi said as he and Naruto ate their respective meals. Naruto smiled and nodded, "It still feels a bit weird, we haven't really unpacked or sorted anything out. Truth be told it kind of scares me a bit." Naruto said as he finished his meals and tossed the plastic wrapper from its container into the fire.

"So that's why you wanted to go on a mission so bad?" Kakashi asked as Naruto responded with a small nod of his head, "I needed to clear my head I guess, everything's moving so fast with us." Naruto said as he turned around to look at the pink-haired girl who was gazing up at the stars. "Well then slow down and enjoy every day. Life goes by way too fast, Naruto." Kakashi said with a smile, "That's pretty wise of you Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said, slightly surprised at Kakashi. "You should talk to her about how you're feeling Naruto." Kakashi said as he gestured to the pink-haired girl looking up at the stars. "What do I say Kakashi-sensei, what If I mess it up?" Naruto said, a hint of worry coating his voice. "Well, you've done alright so far. Haven't you?" Kakashi said as he attempted to reason with the blonde boy to offer him reassurance. "I guess you're right, thanks sensei." Naruto said as he stood up and made his way from the campfire over to Sakura.

"Hey Sakura-chan." Naruto said as he came and sat down on the log with the pink haired girl. "Oh, is it your turn to take watch already Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked, cocking her head slightly to the left. "No, I just thought you'd want some company." Naruto said as he smiled softly at the girl who leaned into him. Naruto responded by lifting his arm up, letting her fall deeper into his embrace. "I really missed this, camping under the stars. Like old times." Naruto said, looking up at the stars. "It is nice, isn't it?" Sakura responded, joining her boyfriend in his stargazing adventure.

"Sakura-chan, do you ever worry that we're moving forward in our relationship too fast?" Naruto asked, making Sakura's eyes widen slightly as her thoughts started to get the best of her, _"Is he breaking up with me?"_ Sakura thought as he heart broke slightly at the thought, "D-Did I do something to upset you, Naruto-kun? If you don't like all the kissing I can-"

"No, the kissing's the best part, I swear." Naruto responded as the arm wrapped around Sakura squeezed her gently, "I just mean that ever since I got back I haven't given you any time to yourself. I've made everything about me." Naruto said as he looked into her eyes.

"I'm the one that chooses to spend all the time with you, y'know." Sakura said, flicking him gently in the nose, making them both giggle slightly as Naruto held back a sneeze. "But… I guess you're right, we have been spending a large amount of time together, not that there's anything wrong with that." Sakura said, quickly reassuring that she still wanted the blonde around.

"I just want to give you freedom Sakura-chan; I want you to keep training with Tsunade-baa-chan and Kakashi-sensei. Don't give up your quest for being strong just to take care of me." He said, leaning his head against hers.

"Naruto-kun…" She whispered out, almost inaudibly. Some time passed before Naruto spoke again, "We can still spend lots of time together." Naruto said, trying to make sure the woman before him understood his intentions, "But we should both do our own thing as well, I hope you don't think I'm being a jerk…" Naruto said, nervously as he looked at Sakura who was staring at the stars. "You're not a jerk; you've never been a jerk." She smiled as she gently pecked him on the cheek and shifted her gaze towards his calming blue eyes, " We should focus on our own paths but still remember the one we're walking together. Is that what you were trying to say?" Sakura said with a smile, Naruto nodded in response to Sakura with a grin on his face, "you always were the smart one, Sakura-chan." Naruto said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

* * *

Finally sunlight dawned upon the bridge, making the native birds chirp and animals move gently in the distance. As the sun's bright rays penetrated through the thick layers of shrubbery and leaves one native animal, the rare Naruto Uzumaki wasn't particularly fond of the sun's intrusion and tried to block the light as it began to spread slowly across his faces, awakening him from his slumber. The blonde yawned as he unzipped his sleeping bag, gently shaking the bags of both his sensei and his girlfriend. Naruto gently brushed the loose hairs away from Sakura's face as she yawned and stretched her arms, smiling at the special wake-up treatment she was receiving.

"Morning you." She smiled at the blonde who replied with a yawned out 'Morning', making the pinkette giggle. He was certainly not a morning person. Kakashi groaned as he too stretched his limbs out, unzipping his sleeping bag after doing so. "Naruto, you and Sakura should pack your gear. I'm going to do one final patrol of the bridge." Kakashi said casually as he yawned loudly after finishing his sentence.

"You look beautiful." Naruto pointed out of nowhere as he began folding up his bag, making Sakura blush slightly at the compliment. "That was out of nowhere." Sakura openly admitted, making the blonde chuckle slightly. "It's true though, you look stunning." Naruto said as he smiled at the pinkette. Sakura knew that she was a mess; she hadn't bathed since they left for Tenchi Bridge and her hair probably looked like a mess since she hadn't brushed it yet, but she knew that the blonde would still compliment her anyways – it's just how he is.

"NARUTO, SAKURA." Kakashi called out from the bridge fetching the two flirting ninja's attention, they immediately rushed over to see what had gotten Kakashi so riled up. They approached the masked jounin and stood by his side; they looked down the bridge and saw two figures both wearing hoods over their heads but their chakra felt… familiar. "Kakashi-sensei, it can't be them. Can it?" Naruto asked, looking over at his sensei with a slight look of worry in his eyes. "I can't see it being anyone else, not with that chakra…" Kakashi said as he readied his kunai. "What are you guys talking about, who Is it?" Sakura asked nervously.

The two men lifted their hoods, it was them. The one of the left bore glasses across his cold features, glasses that hid malevolent intent to kill and harm behind them while the one on the right had skin as pale as snow, a twisted smile warped onto his face as he looked at the three ninja in front of him with those eyes… those eyes that could be mistaken for those of a snake. It was him. It was definitely him.

"Orochimaru…" Sakura uttered out in a mix of shock and fear as she too readied her kunai in front of her, the two men smiled at the three ninja before Orochimaru decided to speak up, "Hm, we really didn't expect that we would have company on this journey. How… interesting." Orochimaru chuckled as he looked at Naruto like a predator stalking his prey, "Isn't that something… Naruto Uzumaki. You've certainly grown up haven't you… and to think I still remember shattering your shoulder only a few years ago." He said as both men donned evil smiles on their faces.

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled, Sakura and Kakashi looked at Naruto. His eyes weren't his normal calming blue orbs anymore. They were red; his pupils now looked more the slits of an animal's eyes. _"This isn't good."_ Kakashi thought as he examined the boy and then returned his gaze to Orochimaru who cackled.

" _Hmm, I guess It's time to evaluate how much power the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails possesses"_ Orochimaru thought as he cracked his neck, readying for a fight. "So Naruto, how does it feel to have your best friends blood on your hands? How does it feel to be a KILLER?" Orochimaru cackled, sending Naruto over the edge.

"Shut up, Shut up, Shut UP!" Naruto said as he charged at the sanin, a malevolent red chakra began surrounding him as a tail began sprouting from the hind end of the red chakra, making Sakura gasp and Kakashi go wide-eyed with worry. _"We need to stop this right now"_ Kakashi thought as he looked at Sakura, "We need to help Naruto." Kakashi said as Sakura nodded in agreement as they both charged after the blonde boy before being stopped by two kunai thrown at their feet.

"Sorry you two, Lord Orochimaru does not wish for you to interfere in their battle." Kabuto said as he fixed his glasses, "Therefore I will be your opponent." Kabuto said as he readied his poison-laced senbon.

* * *

"How I wish I could've been there to watch as the life drained from Sasuke's body!" Orochimaru yelled as dodged a punch and continued to egg Naruto on. "I'M GOING TO CRUSH YOU!" Naruto angrily screamed as he sent his fist colliding into Orochimaru's face, sending him reeling back through a countless number of trees before catching up to him, grabbing his feet and swinging him around once more to add even more momentum to his attack. "Naruto…" Sakura whispered quietly as she watched her boyfriend fade from her view.

Finally a clearing in the trees approached, Orochimaru flipped and landed on his feet as he slid back slightly, trying to regain his footing. Orochimaru looked over his injuries and their appeared to be nothing more than a scratch on his cheek, making the Naruto who had now caught up to the sanin quite shocked, "Naruto, you know you can't beat me in the state you're in. Come on you murderous demon, show me that chakra everyone hates you for having! Show me the power of the NINE TAILED FOX!" Orochimaru shouted as Naruto seethed in anger.

* * *

Dark.

This place was dark… it was familiar… it was where the beast resided. "Why am I here again?" Naruto called out as he banged on the cage, " **You're here because you lust for my power.** " The fox replied as he smashed his giant head against the sealed cage, rattling its surface. "That's not true! I don't need you to beat him!" Naruto rejected the fox, making the nine-tailed beast laugh at his response. " **Face him without my help and you will die, you know it's the truth. He will kill you and everyone you care about, including the girl. Use my power; it's your only choice."** The fox replied, making Naruto take a large gulp as he pondered over the fox's words. "Fine…" Naruto paused as he admitted defeat, "Give me your power then, just remember that if I die you're coming with me" Naruto said as he closed his eyes.

* * *

Red.

Red was all Naruto could see as he opened his eyes, he felt no power over his body, he couldn't control anything. All he felt was anger. Pure, unrelenting anger.

Orochimaru jumped back as two more tails sprouted rapidly from the chakra surrounding the boy and a third begin to emerge, Orochimaru's eyes widened as he saw the very skin of the blonde boy begin to burn off and be replaced with nothing but a solid composite of red chakra, the boy screamed in a primal roar as the skin began to tear off and his clothing began to rip along with it. Finally, after minutes of agonizing screaming the boy was no more. Replaced with a beast that seemed to have consumed his physical form. The fourth tail had emerged. The beast roared mightily, sending Orochimaru reeling back into a rock at the sheer force of its power.

* * *

"Kakashi-sensei, what is that?" Sakura panted out as she kicked Kabuto away. The three ninja looked into the distance and saw a huge red substance around the area that Naruto and Orochimaru were headed, _"Please, don't be what I think it is…"_ Kakashi thought as he dodged one of Kabuto's senbons. "I'm going to dispatch of you quick, my student needs me." Kakashi said as he looked upon Kabuto.

"Come and try it then." Kabuto replied as he held several senbon in his hand that were ready to be thrown. Kakashi sprinted as the man, sending Kabuto reeling with a kick. Kabuto landed on his feet and threw several senbon at Kakashi who now had his full sharingan activated.

"Sakura!" Kakashi called out, breaking the chunin from her blank gaze at the evil chakra filling the air. Sakura readied her chidori and charged at Kabuto, almost connecting flush with the attack, Kabuto managed to dodge just in time. The snake apprentice winced as he felt a bleeding come from his lower right leg. "Lucky hit." Kabuto said as he looked at the girl who still had a worried look on her face as she took occasional glances to the red chakra filling the sky. "There's no such thing as luck." Kakashi said as he appeared behind Kabuto, connecting flush with a kick that sent Kabuto reeling to the other side of the bridge.

"Earth Style: Earth Dome Jutsu!" Kakashi called out as he placed his hands to the ground, suddenly a huge rock formation appeared around downed shinobi and encased him, Kakashi sighed as he removed his hands from the ground, earth style techniques weren't his strong suit and that particular jutsu drained a lot of chakra in order to keep active. Nevertheless, the two ninja decided to quickly push on to the source of the chakra disturbance in the area.

* * *

"This power… this is unbelievable." Orochimaru said as he eyed the four tailed beast in front of him with a look of surprise, the snake sanin cackled as he opened his mouth to inhuman lengths, sending out a large wave of snakes at the four-tailed beast who stood in place awaiting the snakes to approach, growling as he glared the venomous reptiles approaching him in immeasurable numbers. The beast slammed its hand down hard, creating an explosion at the area of impact that dispatched of the snakes quickly; the immense power of the explosion caused both the beast and Orochimaru to be knocked back a few feet away from their original position.

The four-tailed beast looked at Orochimaru before opening its mouth, creating a ball of chakra at its mouth, "So, it knows a few tricks it seems." Orochimaru said before his eyes widened in shock, the four-tailed monster was condensing the ball of chakra to inhuman levels, " _Even I won't survive a blast with that much condensed chakra."_ Orochimaru said as he began to bite his thumbs. Once the beast finished condensing the ball of chakra it then swallowed it, Orochimaru realized what the beast was planning and quickly hurried the jutsu he was preparing. The beast let out an audible roar before releasing the chakra pooling inside of it, sending out a large blast. "Summoning Jutsu; Triple Rashomon" Orochimaru yelled as he summoned three gates out of the ground just in time to avoid taking the blast head on, the first gate was absorbed some of the attacks power but fell in the end, the second gate was able to lessen the attacks power significantly before falling and the third gate was barely able to disperse of the attack before crumbling itself.

" _This isn't good, I didn't expect the boy to pose this much of a threat. It's time to retreat and reconsider my options."_ Orochimaru thought as he quickly disappeared behind the crumbling third Rashomon and went to find Kabuto on the Tenchi Bridge. The four-tailed beast roared loudly as its intended target had fled, only adding to its anger.

"I-Is that Naruto?" Sakura said with wide-eyes as she looked at the atrocious beast roaring inside the crater. Kakashi didn't say anything for a while as he looked on in horror at what Naruto had turned into, "Yes, I'm afraid so." Kakashi replied with a mix of fear and worry. Without saying another word Sakura quickly leapt off the tree and rushed into the crater, "Sakura!" Kakashi called out as he tried to catch up to his student.

The beast roared and slammed its first into the ground once more, creating another shockwave that shook the area around it, blowing back the approaching Sakura and Kakashi who just made it into the crater, "Naruto-kun!" Sakura called out as the beast turned its attention to the woman in front of it. "Naruto-kun, it's me! It's Sakura-chan!" Sakura said as she hesitantly approached the beast who growled at her slightly as she moved closer and closer to it.

Sakura felt a sharp pain on her right cheek as the beast whipped its tail at her, sending her recoiling back into her sensei's arms. Sakura held back tears she felt the stinging pain on her cheek, "Sakura, it's not Naruto anymore." Kakashi said as he readied his lightning blade to attack the beast with before Sakura stopped him by raising her hand in front of her sensei. "He's still in their Kakashi-sensei, I'm sure of it." Sakura paused a she looked at the roaring beast in front of her, "It's my turn to save you this time, Naruto-kun." Sakura said as she stood up and approached the beast once more with a much more purposeful stride.

The beast eyed her, his pure white eyes fixed on her green orbs. "Naruto-kun, I know you're in there! I know you still know who I am! It's me, it's Sakura-chan!" She shouted, getting even closer to the beast than she got before, the mark on her cheek now started to burn and began bleeding slightly, "Look at me!" Sakura shouted as the mindless beast fixated its gaze to her eyes, "I know you feel like you're to blame for what happened to Sasuke but you're not! H-He chose his own path, a path we couldn't save him from! Naruto-kun, this… this isn't you!" Sakura said choking out the final parts of her speech as tears ran down the sides of her face, "I want my Naruto-kun back! I can't live without you, Naruto-kun! I…I love you!" She sobbed as she looked up into the beast's eyes as it seemed to… shed a tear?

" **S…kura-ch..an"** the beast growled out in a voice that sounded slightly like Naruto's making both Kakashi and Sakura gasp, suddenly, the tails began to return back into the beast as the chakra started to fade from around the beasts physical body, after a few moments of the chakra rescinding something was finally visible, his spiky blonde hair was the first thing to come into vision. After some more time had passed his face and upper body were finally visible, his skin had been burned into a rosy shade of red from the red chakra he had been encased in. Sakura reached forward and caught the boy who fell forward into her arms; she encased him tightly as she let her warm tears fall onto his skin. Finally, his whole body was clear of the chakra, all the remained were his pants that were torn so bad that they resembled the look of shorts.

Naruto's eyes opened gently as he felt pain coursing all throughout his body, he smiled as his ocean blue eyes met her emerald green ones. "Don't cry, Sakura-chan." Naruto muttered out quietly, his voice dry and raspy. Sakura looked at the blonde and smiled gently as he passed out in her arms.


	11. Chapter 9

Naruto groaned as he slowly ebbed himself towards consciousness, the incessant beeping of hospital machines helped the blonde boy realize where he was, he felt pain all over his body as he tried to move. Naruto knew it had something to do with his battle against Orochimaru at Tenchi Bridge, he slowly moved his head to the left, trying his best to ignore the pain that followed each slight movement of his neck. Naruto shifted his gaze down and saw that he was wrapped up in bandages, resembling a mummy more-so than a ninja. Naruto looked up at he saw a familiar nurse enter the room, quite shocked that the blonde boy was awake.

"Sorry Naruto. I'm just here to check your injuries." The platinum blonde spoke as she carefully undid his bandaging, "I-Ino?" Naruto rasped out quietly as he saw the girl inspect his slightly red skin that had looked to be peeling slightly, "Hm, you're healing way faster than expected." Ino said with a smile as she re-bandaged the burnt skin of the Uzumaki. "Ino…" Naruto rasped out once more, getting Ino's attention. Ino giggled slightly at the blondes attempts to talk, she reached down a grabbed the cup of water placed at his bedside table, Ino moved the cup to his mouth and allowed him to get a few good gulps of the clear liquid before she removed it from his mouth.

"Better?" Ino said, smiling at the boy who was coughing slightly, "Y-Yeah.' Naruto paused as he coughed once more, "Thanks." He said quietly as the room fell silent once more, "How'd I get here?" Naruto asked as his blue eyes met Ino's, "Well, Sakura and Kakashi arrived at the main gate with you on Kakashi's back. You looked like you were in terrible shape, they brought you in here and wrapped you up in all these bandages and have been letting you sleep for the last couple days." Ino said as refilled his water cup. "I see…" Naruto responded as he looked down at the floor, Ino saw the sadness on her fellow blonde's face and felt her heart sink a bit at the defeated look in his eyes. "I bet everyone's going to be really happy you're ok Naruto!" Ino said cheerily, trying to brighten the blonde's mood to no avail, "Naruto, are you feeling ok?" Ino asked as she pulled up a chair and sat down next to the boy and looked at him with concern on her face.

"Y-Yeah Ino, just… Is it okay if I have some time alone to think?" Naruto uttered out quietly as he looked at the blonde with a slight pleading look in his blue eyes. Ino nodded, she didn't want to pry, she knew that something was troubling Naruto but it wasn't her place to play detective with his life. "Sure, take all the time you need. I'll call Tsunade-sama and tell her that you're awake." Ino said as she got up to leave the room. "Ino…" Naruto called out before the blonde left the room, making her turn her turn around to face the bandaged blonde. Naruto looked up from the ground and locked his gaze with the platinum blonde standing in the doorway. "Thank you." He said gently, giving her a small smile. Ino smiled and nodded at the boy as she proceeded out the doorway, leaving Naruto to his thoughts.

* * *

"Are you sure?" Tsunade asked desperately as she eyed the small frog that was standing on his hind legs, with a small staff supporting his weight. "I'm afraid so, he showed great determination and heart before his passing." The frog said, bowing his head in sadness. Tsunade smashed her hands on the desk as she openly wept in front of the frog, "That idiot…" Tsunade choked out as she buried her head in her arms. "He wrote down a message on my back, I'm unsure of what it means as I've yet to let anyone see it." The frog said as he removed his cloak, showing the Hokage a view of his back which had a varying amount of numbers written on it.

"I can't make heads or tails of it." Tsunade admitted as she wiped away the remaining tears, trying desperately to regain her composure. "I'll have a scribe come in later and write down the numbers on your back, I'd ask that you remain here for a small time before heading back to Mount Myoboku, Fukasaku." The Hokage ordered gently, not wishing to argue right now. "I understand dear." Fukasaku said quietly as he sat down and began meditating on the table, only to be disturbed by a blonde who rudely came in without announcing her presence.

"Tsunade-sama, Naruto has woken up." Ino said, panting. Tsunade's eyes reflected pain within them as the Hokage realized what she would have to tell Naruto. "I see, let's head over there at once." Tsunade said as she stood up, the Hokage gazed at Ino who was staring at the meditating frog, "I'll fill you in as we go, come on." Tsunade said as she gestured for the platinum blonde girl to follow her back to the hospital.

" _Naruto… that was the boy he spoke of, was it not?"_ Fukasaku thought as he returned to his peaceful meditation.

* * *

Sakura smiled as she helped Mika pick out some more vegetables to place in her shopping bag, Sakura winced as she grazed her hand over the mark on her face, this didn't go unnoticed by the brunette who looked at the girl with a worried look before speaking up, "So, you said that Naruto-kun did this to you?" Mika said, looking at the girl who froze up slightly in realization of what Mika was referencing. She nodded her head faintly in response before replying to the woman, "Naruto snapped after Orochimaru's constant tormenting and let 'it' take over." Sakura said as she looked around, making sure none of the civilians were paying attention to her and Mika's conversation, "He… He looked like a beast but deep down, I knew Naruto-kun was still in there. I approached the thing that was in control of Naruto-kun and it whipped me with its tail in defence, that's how I got this." Sakura said, gesturing to the scar above her cheek.

"Will it heal?" Mika asked as she placed some carrots into her bag, "Yeah, but there's no way to speed it up with any healing jutsu. Something about the chakra laced in the wound won't let mine or anyone else's chakra affect it." Sakura said as she placed some more vegetables and fruits into her bag. "I'm just glad you're both alright." Mika said with a gentle smile on her face, "Thank you Mika-sama." Sakura said with a smile as they two woman proceeded to go pay for the food they had collected.

* * *

"You have a funny habit of always ending up here." Tsunade said she entered the room and examined the boy's medical chart. "Yeah." Naruto said quietly as his gaze faced downwards, Tsunade was quite perplexed at Naruto's response, normally she'd expect him to fire back with some smart-ass comment but he seemed like he was completely out of it. "How are you feeling?" Tsunade said as she sat down and examined the bandages; the peeled skin seemed to have already been healed, most likely due to the fox. "Fine." Naruto quietly muttered as he examined the skin on his arm, noticing it was looking a lot better than when Ino had come to examine him.

"The fox's healing has really gone into overdrive this time, this is amazing…" Tsunade said as she ran her hand across the boys exposed arm, she looked up and saw that Naruto was not even paying attention her, it was like he was off in his own world. "Naruto?" Tsunade asked as she called out to the blonde, getting his attention. "Sorry, I must've spaced out." Naruto said as he re-focused his gaze on the blonde Hokage.

"Tell me what's bothering you." Tsunade said, giving Naruto a gaze that clearly said 'you're not leaving until you tell me the truth'. The blonde Uzumaki sighed before speaking up, "I let the fox take control of me, I should've known better." Naruto said as he balled his fists tightly making the Hokage look at him with a glint of sadness in her eyes, "I'm not going to tell you it wasn't a stupid decision, because it was." Tsunade scolded, making the blonde gaze down sadly, Tsunade sighed as she lifted Naruto's head by his chin so that his gaze was locked with hers, she flashed him a gentle smile before she continued to speak, "We all make stupid decisions sometimes Naruto, it's just part of being human. The smartest thing to do is to forgive ourselves." She said sweetly as she pinched his cheeks, making him flash a small smile at the gesture

"Can you stand up on your own?" Tsunade asked as she looked up at the blonde who moved to the side of the bed and managed to stand up all on his own and even walk around without the support of the Hokage. "Well, I guess you've healed extraordinarily fast this time." Tsunade said as she observed the mummy-like Naruto walk around the room. "Sakura came by and delivered some clothes you could change into." Tsunade said as she handed the boy a change of clothes, "Do you need help getting the bandages off?" Tsunade asked as she looked at the blonde boy who was already walking off into the change room, "I'll be fine." Naruto replied as he exited the room. "Will you, Naruto?" Tsunade asked quietly as she looked at the scroll in her hand that _he_ had given her.

A few minutes passed before Naruto emerged again, dressed up in his usual attire with a slight tinge of sunburn red to his skin. Tsunade smiled at the boy, he looked much better in ninja gear than bandages. "Is there any pain?" Tsunade asked as she inspected the boy who was stretching slightly. "Some, but it's nothing noteworthy." Naruto said as he sat down on the bed.

"Naruto-kun!" Sakura said as she ran into the room past the Hokage and hugged the boy tightly, Tsunade smiled as the two embraced each other in tight hugs, "You're clear to go Naruto…" Tsunade paused as she looked down sadly; remembering what the frog sage had told her, "Meet me in my office after you have become re-acquainted. I need to speak with you both." Tsunade said as she exited the room, leaving the two shinobi alone with each other.

Naruto eyes widened as he saw the scar across Sakura's cheek, he ran his hand across it and froze up slightly when he felt her wince in pain. "Are you okay?" Naruto asked, concerned over the pink-haired kunoichi. Sakura giggled at the blonde's antics, "You're the one that's been cooped up in the hospital, dummy. I should be asking you that." Sakura said as she gently kissed the blonde's cheek. "Who did that to you?" Naruto asked, his gaze fixated on Sakura. "I swear to god if that bastard Kabuto laid a f-"

"Naruto, it was you." Sakura interrupted quietly before gripping the blonde's hand, hoping not too startle him too much. "Me?" Naruto paused with wide eyes as she saw his jaw clench slightly, Sakura knew he was having a hard time processing this. "How?" Naruto asked as he looked at the scar on her cheek, Sakura sighed as she sat down in the bed next to him. "You weren't in control of yourself; I tried to snap you out of it and… one of those tails flung forward and lashed at me." Sakura said feeling sadness overcome her as she looked at the guilty expression that plagued Naruto's face.

"So it's my fault then…" Naruto uttered out quietly as he looked down towards the ground, the blonde was slightly shocked when he felt a gentle hand caress his whiskered cheek. "Remember what I said a long time ago? I told you that you are Naruto Uzumaki, not the Nine-Tailed Fox." Sakura said as she looked at him with determination in her eyes, "The Nine-Tailed fox did this to me, not Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto Uzumaki is a kind man that probably won't let me out of his sight now that he's seen this injury." Sakura giggled as she leaned her forehead against his. "Naruto Uzumaki thinks you're still beautiful no matter what, Sakura-chan." Naruto said, making Sakura blush lightly as she pressed her lips to his gently. "Come on, we need to go see what Tsunade-sama wants." Sakura said as she gripped Naruto's hand as they left the room, together.

 _"I'm done using your power fox; I'm going to get strong on my own. I'll never let you hurt the ones I love ever again!"_ Naruto thought as he shut the door to his hospital room.

* * *

Fukasaku and Tsunade glanced at the two ninjas entered the room, Naruto and Sakura looked perplexed at the toad who was sat at the table with his legs crossed but decided not to ask questions. "So, what's the big deal Baa-chan?" Naruto said with his hands in his pockets, "That's no way to speak to your Hokage, you fo-" Fukasaku tried to shout at the rude boy but the frog sage was cut off by Tsunade, "Naruto, please atleast try to keep your manners in check in front of the Elder Sage of the Toads." Tsunade said as she gestured to Fukasaku. "No way! So you're the one Pervy-sage used to talk about when we were travelling!" Naruto said with a smile that would quickly fade. "Pervy-sage? That's quite the nickname for Jiraya-boy. I'm sure he would've loved that one." Fukasaku said, chuckling slightly.

Naruto's eyes widened slightly, "Why are you talking like something's happened to him?" Naruto said, fear and worry made his voice waver slightly. Fukasaku sighed as he stood up and used his staff for support, he looked over at Tsunade who nodded, giving Fukasaku permission to tell Naruto of the events that had transpired. "Come on, tell me what's happening!" Naruto said, a bit more loudly than before, fear evident in his tone of voice.

"Naruto, I'm afraid that Jiraya-boy has died in battle." Fukasaku uttered out, silencing the room.

"W-What…" Naruto uttered out quietly with wide eyes as he stepped back a few steps, Sakura looked at the pained expression on her boyfriend's face and felt her heart sink into her stomach, "Jiraya-boy fought to the bitter end an-" Fukasaku was interrupted by the blonde boy who sprinted out of the room, leaving a small trail of tears in his wake.

Tsunade closed her eyes in order to hold back a wave of her own tears as she reached for the scroll under her desk, "Jiraya's final wish was that Naruto saw this scroll, please find the boy and give it to him Sakura." Tsunade said, her voice wavering slightly as she choked out the last words of her order. "Understood Tsunade-sama…" Sakura said, bowing to both the Hokage and Fukasaku before she rushing out after her boyfriend.

Once she left the Hokage building the pink-haired girl instantly looked around for any sign of the blonde haired knucklehead but it seemed that he was long gone from her view, Sakura approached one of the civilians walking along the same path as her and hesitantly uttered out her question, "Sorry to bother you, miss. Did you see Naruto Uzumaki run through here at all?" She asked as she desperately eyed the woman who scoffed at the kunoichi's question, "Why would I be paying attention to that fox brat? He's nothing but trouble, dear." The civilian said as she eyed Sakura who was clenching her jaw tightly in order to avoid any outbursts. "Thank you anyways, miss." Sakura said through gritted teeth as she continued her search for the blonde.

Sakura sighed as she sat down on the bench near where she had started her now hour-long search, she placed her head in her hands and closed her eyes as she wished for some kind of miracle to guide her back to Naruto, it must have been Sakura's lucky day. "Sakura-sama!" Sakura raised her head as she saw a panicked Mika running towards her, "Mika-sama, are you okay?" Sakura asked, worried about the brunette who was panting after her run. "I-I came as quick as I could to get the Hokage's help." Mika said as she regained some of her composure, "Why? What's wrong?" Sakura said with nervous look painted across her face. "It's Naruto-kun." Mika said, worry evident in her voice.

* * *

Sakura winced as she heard the sound of glass shattering inside the apartment, "He hasn't been responding to me when I've called out for him, I tried to get in but he's locked the doors as well and I couldn't find our key… all I can hear is him crying or breaking things and I… I can't …" Mika tried to finish her sentence but couldn't as tears began to gently fall down her face. Sakura looked sadly at the landlord who was clearly torn up by how Naruto was acting; she reached out to grip Mika's hand but was interrupted as she heard the sound of glass shattering once more.

"Go back to your apartment, Mika-sama. You've done more than enough. Thank you for everything." Sakura said as she embraced the woman tightly, Mika smiled and nodded at the girl as they broke from their hug. "Be gentle with him Sakura-sama, this is the worst I've ever seen him." Mika said as she turned around and headed back to her apartment.

"Naruto-kun! I'm coming in!" Sakura said as she put her key into the lock, gently turning the handle to open the door. Sakura's heart sank at the state she saw Naruto in; their entire apartment looked like a war-zone. Furniture had been thrown all around the room, tables had been flipped over, glassware had been thrown at the wall in what looked to be sizeable amounts and to top it all off, the blonde who would light up her would with his infectious laughter and signature smile was sat in the corner of the room with his head held up by his bleeding hands. Sakura put the pieces together and realized Naruto must have been punching the ground quite heavily, leading to the bleeding.

Sakura approached the blonde who was sobbing in the corner and sat down with him, without saying a word she wrapped her arms around her vulnerable partner and encased him in a warm embrace, Naruto shifted his head from his hands and into the crook of the pink-haired girl's neck, Naruto finally let the flood gates open as he sobbed openly in front of Sakura. Sakura said nothing; instead she ran her fingers gently through Naruto's blonde locks in an attempt to comfort him.

"It hurts, Sakura-chan." Naruto murmured through his sobs as he pointed at his heart. "I know, Naruto-kun, I know." Sakura whispered gently she continued to stroke the blondes hair, Sakura felt the fabric of her shirt drench slightly at the immeasurable amount of pain that the blonde boy was releasing unto her. They laid together on the wood floor for what seemed like an hour, Sakura continued to whisper gentle musings into the blonde's ear, trying calm in down. Naruto slid his arms around her and pressed her closer to him in order to reassure himself that she would not leave him as well.

"Feeling better?" Sakura asked as she separated from the blonde, looking at his ocean blue eyes that were now puffy due to the recent crying he had done, "Please don't leave, I can't lose you too." Naruto said in an almost inaudible whisper that made Sakura's heart sink slightly, "I'm not going anywhere, promise." Sakura said as she intertwined her hand to fit in his much larger one.

Naruto and Sakura moved to the bedroom after that, resuming their close embrace of one another as Naruto sought comfort in the pink-haired girl's presence. Sakura couldn't imagine the pain that Naruto was currently going through, earlier today he had found out that he unconsciously caused pain to the one he loved and now he had lost one of the most important people in his life. She pressed him closer to her as she felt him quietly drift off to sleep.

* * *

Naruto sat on the couch with Sakura silently as they looked around the destroyed living room, Naruto looked down in shame as he realized what had done to the home that they were meant to share together. "I'll clean it all, I promise." Naruto said as he expected Sakura to begin her yelling any second. Sakura shook her head at the blonde and placed her hand on top of his, "It'll be easier if we do it together." Sakura said as she smiled gently at the blonde who responded with a small smile of his own.

After the two had finished cleaning they returned to their place on the couch, Sakura moved her hand into her back pocket and pulled out the scroll, the pink-haired kunoichi examined it in her hand, this didn't go unnoticed by Naruto. "Why have you got a scroll, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked with his gaze fixed on the red and yellow outlines of the scroll. "Actually, it's for you Naruto-kun. It's from Jiraya." Sakura said as she passed the scroll over to the blonde boy.

"From Pervy-sage?" Naruto said as he took the scroll out of Sakura's hand and examined it himself, Naruto placed the scroll down on the living room table, carefully avoiding the hole he had punched in it earlier, he opened the scroll and began to read it quietly to himself, Sakura also looked down and examined the writing that was written on the scroll.

 _Dear Naruto,_

 _If you've come into possession of this scroll it means that I've passed on from this world. I know you're probably sad or angry right now, maybe both. Truth be told, you have every right to be. I'm sorry I wasn't able to keep my promise and continue training you further, sometimes in life you have no control of how the pieces of the puzzle align and it seems the my life was a complicated jigsaw indeed._

 _This letter is to inform you that it's now time for you to take the next step in your training, without me. You will need to journey to Mount Myoboku, the land of the toads. There you will meet the Elder Toad Sages Shima and Fukasaku, they will guide your training from here on out. You can reach Mount Myoboku by using the reverse summoning technique found on the other side of this scroll. Summon Gamakichi when you are ready and he will walk you through the process._

 _Before I conclude this letter I want to tell you personally that it was an honour to call you my student, you have not only surpassed what I believed you could be but also what every other idiot in this village believed you could be, you have indeed transformed into a splendid shinobi. You truly have the power to change how people see the world Naruto; You turned a bitter old woman who didn't care about anyone but herself into the Leaf Village's 5_ _th_ _Hokage, you changed Gaara from an angry monster hell-bent on inflicting pain and death onto others into a kind, caring man who now holds the title of Kazekage, and most importantly… you made a perverted old man realize that there is still some good left in the world._

 _I now leave the rest to you Naruto, the tale of Jiraya the Gallant has ended. However, the tale of Naruto Uzumaki: the Gusty Ninja is just beginning. Good luck, kid._

Sakura gripped the blonde's hand, expecting him to break into sobs before he started… laughing? "S-Stupid pervert, that was the first time he's ever told me he was proud of me." Naruto giggled as wiped the falling tears from his face. Sakura smiled gently as she leaned into the blonde's embrace. Naruto welcomed the pink-haired girl into his arms as they just sat on the couch, pondering over Jiraya's letter.

"So, I guess you'll be heading to Mount Myoboku then." Sakura finally spoke up, getting the attention of the blonde who sat up from the embrace, followed by Sakura. "You're not coming with?" Naruto asked, slightly saddened that the pink-haired girl wasn't putting up an argument to go with him. "I'm not going to train with some old toads." Sakura said with a small giggle, "Besides, my place is here in the village, I need to keep training with Tsunade-sama and Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said, rubbing her thumb along the top of his hand.

"I promise I won't be gone long, I'll train super hard so I can get back quickly." Naruto said as he intertwined his hand with Sakura's, "Just promise me you won't turn into a toad." Sakura said as ran her hand along Naruto's whiskered cheek. "You've got a deal." He said, flashing the pink-haired girl a small smile as their lips met gently.

* * *

Naruto and Sakura were standing at the old Team 7 training grounds, Sakura sat under a tree as she watched Naruto prepare to use the summoning jutsu.

"Alright, here we go…" Naruto said as he rubbed his hands together vigorously before biting his thumb and doing a number of hand signs and slamming his hand down, "Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed as a plume of smoke came forth from where he had pressed his hand into the ground, Sakura watched in anticipation as the smoke cleared to reveal two toads, one green toad about the size of a boulder who looked like he had no idea what was going on in the world around him and a red toad who was around as tall as Naruto.

"Yo" The red toad said as he waved to blonde while the green toad just moaned happily, "Yo, Gamakichi and Gamatatsu. Wow, you guys got big!" Naruto said as he looked at the two large toads in front of him.

"Thanks Naruto I-" Gamakichi began to talk before the other toad, Gamatatsu decided to pipe up with quite a quirky voice, "Naruto, do you have any food?" Gamatatsu asked as he eyed the blonde with an awkward stare, "No, I don't have anything on me. Sorry Gamatatsu." Naruto said, slightly taken back by the green toads sudden question. "That's okay." Gamatatsu said as he returned to sitting in a statue-like manner. "As I was saying…" Gamakichi paused as he eyed the green toad with an annoyed gaze, "We've been training hard back at home, or atleast I have. This idiot prefers to just eat all day." Gamakichi said as his gaze shifted once again to his brother, "That's not very nice." Gamatatsu said as he continued to sit like a statue, "IT DOESN'T MATTER IF ITS NICE, IT'S TRUE! YOU BIG-"

"Guys please, calm down." Naruto called out, making the red frog stop his yelling. Sakura was impressed with Naruto's control over the toads; Jiraya must have taught him a thing or two while they were travelling. "Gamakichi, Pervy-sage said that you'd know how to execute the reverse summoning jutsu. That's why I summoned you; I need your help getting to Mount Myoboku." Naruto said as he looked up at the red toad. "I see, I guess you've heard the news about Jiraya-sama then… I'm sorry for your loss Naruto." Gamakichi paused as he looked down at the blonde who expressed his thankfulness through a curt nod. "Anyways, we'll need the scroll to make this work. Did Jiraya give it to you?" Gamakichi asked as the blonde replied with a nod, pulling out the scroll he had receive last night. He flipped it over and placed it down on the ground to reveal a seal inscribed on the entire back page of the scroll.

"Alright, we'll need to all stand in close proximity to the scroll." Gamakichi said as he pulled the green toad over to the scroll by the ear. "Now, is there anything you need to do before we leave? You won't be back for around a month or so in human-time. " Gamakichi said, shifting his gaze down to the blonde.

"Yeah, there's one thing. Hold on." Naruto said as he quickly ran over to Sakura and helped the girl to her feet, his oceanic blue eyes met her emerald ones and they both smiled as blushed crossed their faces. "I promise I'-" Naruto was interrupted as Sakura pulled the boy in by his jacket into a tender kiss. Sakura ran her hand across Naruto's whiskered cheek as they broke from their embrace, Naruto looked open his mouth but was cut off by Sakura who placed a finger on his lips "You have somewhere to be." Sakura said as she gestured to the toads who were bickering with each other. Naruto nodded and smiled at the girl, he planted one more chaste kiss to her lips before running over to join the toads.

"Alright, you ready?" Gamakichi said as he looked at the blonde boy, "You bet!" Naruto said confidently, "Gamatatsu, make sure you get this right!" Gamakichi said sternly as he looked at the green toad who gave a faint nod in response. "Naruto, it's the same process as a summoning jutsu. You do the summoning jutsu on the scroll while we place our hands down on it. Got it?" Gamakichi said to the blonde who nodded in response.

"All right, here we go!" Naruto said, biting him thumb once more, the toads placed their hands down on the scroll while Naruto slammed his hand into the middle of the scroll with force, "Reverse Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed.


End file.
